UN Chief on 3-day visit to Israel, Palestinian territories

JERUSALEM – U.N. Secretary-General Antonio Guterres is visiting Israel and the Palestinian territories to discuss ways to revive the peace process.

Spokesman Stephane Dujarric says Guterres arrived Sunday evening. He is set to meet Israeli and Palestinian leaders during his three-day visit, his first since taking office.

Dujarric said in an email that the visit will allow Guterres “to engage directly with Israeli and Palestinian people and their leaders” about “finding a long overdue peaceful resolution to the conflict.”

The visit comes at a time of Israel-U.N. tensions.

Israel was angered by a resolution adopted by the U.N.’s cultural agency that it says diminishes Jewish ties to Jerusalem. Israel also criticized the U.N. peacekeeping force in Lebanon for being in its view soft on Iranian-backed Hezbollah forces on its border.