Palestinian children walk past Israeli soldiers in the West Bank city of Hebron June 5, 2007. Marking 40 years of Israeli occupation, President Mahmoud Abbas said on Tuesday internal fighting had brought Palestinians to the brink of civil war. Yet Abbas, recalling what he described as the Arabs' "great defeat" by Israel in six days of war that began on June 5, 1967, assured his people that statehood was within reach.(Xinhua/Reuters Photo) Photo Gallery>>>

    UNITED NATIONS, June 5 (Xinhua) -- UN Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon marked on Tuesday the 40th Anniversary of the 1967 Arab-Israeli war by remembering the victims and emphasizing the need for talks in the Middle East peace process.

    "On this day, the secretary-general remembers the men, women and children who have been killed or had their lives shattered by the tragedies of conflict in the Middle East, particularly the Palestinians who continue to live under an occupation that has lasted forty years," Ban said in a statement released by his press office.

    The anniversary of the 1967 Arab-Israeli war "reminds us, statehood for Palestinians, security for Israelis, and peace in the region cannot be achieved by force," he said.

    "An end to the occupation and a political solution to the conflict is the only way forward - for Israelis, Palestinians, Syrians, Lebanese and the wider region," he said.

    "This will only be achieved through negotiations to bring about an end to the occupation, on the basis of the principle of land for peace," as envisaged in relevant Security Council resolutions, he stressed.

    The UN chief reaffirmed the UN's commitment to "bringing assistance to those who suffer, and to working tirelessly for a just, lasting and comprehensive peace in the region in accordance with international law and the resolutions of the Security Council."

    By the end of the 1967 Arab-Israeli War fought between Israel and its Arab neighbors Egypt, Jordan, and Syria, Israel captured the Gaza Strip and the Sinai Peninsula from Egypt, the West Bank and east Jerusalem from Jordan and the Golan Heights from Syria.