New York, July 31 (BNA) U.N. chief Ban Ki moon pressed Israel Friday to further ease its blockade of the Gaza Strip and to restrain settlement activity in the occupied West Bank as he met Israeli Defense Minister Ehud Barak.
Their wide-ranging discussions touched on the overall situation in Gaza, with Ban underscoring the importance of a "further easing of the (border) closures," on Lebanon and on Israel's settlement activity, a U.N.
statement said.
The secretary general called on the Jewish state to continue "its restraint on settlement activity and to extend it to east Jerusalem" among other steps that could spur "meaningful direct talks" between Israelis and Palestinians.
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