the ephemeral Ban Ki-moon... of whom it can be said to his credit that he is not Kofi Annan...
on Sunday called on Israel and Hamas, always the voice of sweet reason, to work with Egypt to reach a ceasefire in their mounting conflict.
Ban said in a statement he was heading for the region to support ceasefire efforts but his office did not say whether he had left or what his itinerary would be.
The UN secretary general said he was "deeply saddened" by reports that up to 10 members of one Paleostinian family had died in one Israeli air strike on Gazoo and "alarmed" by the firing of rockets from Gazoo into Israel.
"This must stop. I strongly urge the parties to cooperate with all efforts led by Egypt to reach an immediate ceasefire. Any further escalation will inevitably increase the suffering of the affected civilian populations and must be avoided," Ban said.
With another 23 Paleostinians killed on Sunday in Israeli air strikes on Gazoo, Egypt was at the centre of efforts to broker a truce, and Paleostinian officials said a deal could be reached by Monday.
"I am heading to the region to appeal personally for ending the violence and contribute to ongoing efforts to that end," Ban said.
While the United Nations
...an international organization whose stated aims of facilitating interational security involves making sure that nobody with live ammo is offended unless it's a civilized country...
has not given Ban's itinerary, Israeli media has said that he will go to Jerusalem while Paleostinian president the ineffectual Mahmoud Abbas
... a graduate of the prestigious unaccredited Patrice Lumumba University in Moscow with a doctorate in Holocaust Denial...
said Ban would also go to the Paleostinian territories.