The U.N. secretary-general visited Israel and Palestinian Authority-controlled areas, but refused meetings with Hamas officials.
Ban Ki-moon arrived in Israel on Saturday for his first visit since taking office. He told reporters there was a “gathering dynamism” in efforts to restart the Israeli-Palestinian peace process, and spoke positively of a Saudi proposal for comprehensive regional peace under which Israel would win recognition from the Arab world in exchange for giving up land captured in the 1967 Six-Day War and accepting a resolution to the Palestinian refugee problem.
Ban was to meet P.A. President Mahmoud Abbas on Sunday and Israeli Prime Minister Ehud Olmert on Monday. However, he would not meet with Hamas officials, saying the atmosphere was “not fully ripe,” according to The Associated Press.
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