UN Secretary-General Mr Kofi Annan told an Arab summit today that Israel's collective punishment had fed Palestinian anger and despair.
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UN Secretary-General, Mr Kofi Annan
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He said the world had every right to criticise Israel for occupying Arab land and for its excessively harsh response to a Palestinian uprising but he reminded Arab leaders that the Jewish state had a right to exist within recognised borders.
"Collective punishment has cast a pall of anger and despair over the already tense occupied territories," Mr Annan declared at the opening session of the two-day summit in Amman.
Urging both sides to resume peace talks, he said: "There is no solution to be found in violence, and no sense in postponing the day when the parties return to the table."
Mr Annan also expressed sympathy for the suffering of the Iraqi people but called on Iraq to cooperate with the international community as the quickest way to get UN sanctions lifted.