UN chief Ban Ki-moon on Sunday, January 15 called for an end to Israeli "occupation" in the Arab world, saying the illegal building of settlements worked against a two-state solution.

"The Israeli occupation of Arab and Palestinian territories must end. So must violence against civilians," Ban said in a keynote address at a conference in Beirut on democracy in the Arab world.

"Settlements, new and old, are illegal. They work against the emergence of a viable Palestinian state," said the UN secretary general. "A two-state solution is long overdue. The status quo offers only the guarantee of future conflict."

Ban, who arrived in Beirut on Friday, was speaking at a conference entitled "Reform and Transitions to Democracy" organized by the United Nations Economic and Social Commission for Western Asia (ESCWA), AFP reported.