国际英语新闻：Situation in Middle East remains "critical": top UN official

UNITED NATIONS, April 14 (Xinhua) -- Efforts have been made to bring about conditions toward a resumption of the Israeli- Palestinian talks, but the situation on the ground remains " critical" and the efforts need to be sped up, a top United Nations official told the Security Council here on Wednesday.

"We cannot afford to lose this opportunity to reach an agreement," Lynn Pascoe, the UN under-secretary-general for political affairs, said while briefing the 15-member Security Council on the Middle East. And he called the situation there " critical."

The situation on the ground "remains fragile and a crisis of confidence between the parties has so far prevented the resumption of talks," he said.

The international community has been intensifying the joint efforts aimed at bringing the resumption of peace talks, such as the League of Arab States Summit at the end of March, where UN Secretary-general Ban Ki-moon urged the Arabs to support proximity talks between the Palestinians and the Israelis in order for direct negotiations to end the conflict.

"The United Nations will continue to engage with its Quartet partners to ensure that the circumstances which made it possible to agree to launch the proximity talks be respected," Pascoe said.