CAIRO
UN Secretary-General Ban Ki-Moon said Saturday that Security Council-sponsored Yemen negotiations are the only opportunity to end a long-term struggle in Yemen.
"Negotiations - facilitated by my Special Envoy Jamal Benomar and endorsed by the Security Council – remain the only chance to prevent a long, drawn-out conflict," Ban said at opening of the 26th Arab summit in Egypt's Red Sea town of Sharm el-Sheikh.
"It is my fervent hope that at this Arab League summit, leaders will lay down clear guidelines to peacefully resolve the crisis in Yemen," he said.
The UN chief said he "repeatedly condemned the attempts by the Houthis and former president [Ali Abdullah] Saleh to undermine political agreements by military force."
"I take note that military action has been undertaken at the request of Yemen’s sovereign and legitimate leader, President Hadi," he added.
Fractious Yemen has been beset by turmoil since last September, when Shiite militants overran capital Sanaa, from which they have sought to extend their influence to other parts of the country as well.
Since Wednesday, Saudi Arabia and Arab allies have been pounding Houthi positions across Yemen.
Saudi Arabia said the anti-Houthi campaign was in response to appeals by Yemeni President Abd Rabbuh Mansour Hadi to "save the people [of Yemen] from the Houthi militias."
Some Gulf countries accuse Shiite Iran of supporting Yemen's Houthi insurgency.
-Israeli settlements-
The UN chief, meanwhile, said that Israeli settlements were impeding progress in peacemaking in the Middle East.
"Israeli settlements in the occupied territories are illegal and constitute a serious impediment to peace," he said.
"Once again, I urge Israel to end what is now nearly half a century of occupation," he said.
"I urge the Palestinians to overcome their divisions. And I call upon the friends and supporters of both to push for a just and lasting solution based on international law," Ban said.
He also addressed the situation in the blockaded Gaza Strip, saying that "seven months after the end of yet another war with Israel, Gaza remains a tinderbox – and the situation is getting worse by the day."
U.S.-sponsored peace talks between the Palestinians and Israel collapsed last year after the self-proclaimed Jewish state failed to free a fourth batch of Palestinian prisoners under an earlier agreement with the Palestinian Authority.
Israel has been blockading the Gaza Strip since 2007 when Hamas routed forces loyal to Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas and took control of the entire Gaza Strip.
The blockade has badly affected livelihood in the Palestinian territory and deprived the territory's 1.9-million population of most basic needs.
