UN Secretary General Ban Ki-moon said Sunday that Israelis and Arabs must show "utmost responsibility" to ward off new hostilities after a day of clashes in which at least 12 people were killed and hundreds wounded, a UN spokesman said.
Ban said there had to be a new effort to restart Israeli-Palestinian peace talks after the fighting along the Israel's borders with Lebanon, Syria and Gaza, his spokesman Martin Nesirky said.
His statement noted that the breach of the frontier had come from "the Syrian side."
"The secretary general is deeply concerned that a significant number of people have been killed or injured. He calls on all concerned to show restraint and refrain from provocations so as to prevent escalation of tensions," Nesirky said.
Ban called for "calm throughout the region and utmost responsibility from all concerned."
He added that there is an "unsustainable status quo in the Arab-Israeli conflict, which is only thrown into sharper relief by the profound political changes now under way in the region."
The UN leader reiterated the "urgent need for a just, lasting and comprehensive Arab-Israeli peace, which ensures dignity and security for all, including an end to occupation, an end to conflict, and a just and agreed solution to the plight of Palestinian refugees."
"The secretary general calls for a renewed and sustained effort to resume Israeli-Palestinian negotiations and advance the broader goal of a comprehensive regional peace in the Middle East," Nesirky said.
Palestinians marched on Israel's borders with Lebanon, Syria and Gaza in a protest against the creation of the Jewish state.
Thousands of protesters from Syria tried to force their way onto the Israeli-occupied Golan Heights, prompting the army to open fire in one of the worst incidents of violence there since a 1974 truce accord.
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