UN Secretary General Ban Ki-moon arrived...

Ban is making his second visit to the Palestinian enclave of 1.5 million, which has been the subject of an almost continuous Israeli blockade since radical Islamic group Hamas took control of the Gaza Strip in the summer of 2007.

During his Saturday"s visit to the occupied West Bank, Ban said he would visit Gaza to show his support for Palestinians.

The UN chief"s regional tour follows the Moscow meeting of the Middle East quartet of international mediators comprising the United Nations, the United States, the European Union and Russia, which called on Israel to freeze all settlement activity and pledged to use all powers to resume Israeli-Palestinian peace talks.

During his Saturday"s visit to the West Bank, the UN chief said the Mideast quartet supported Palestinian efforts to establish an independent and viable state.

"We are strongly supporting your efforts to establish an independent and viable Palestinian state," Ban said after meeting Palestinian

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