DHAKA: The United Nations is ready to help rebuild Gaza but for the last time, UN chief Ban Ki-moon warned Wednesday.

Ban opened a special meeting of the United Nations General Assembly with an appeal for a lasting peace as a 72-hour ceasefire between Israel and Hamas was holding for a second day.

‘The senseless cycle of suffering in Gaza and the West Bank, as well as in Israel must end,’ he told the 193-nation assembly, reports The Straits Times.

After three wars in Gaza in six years, the UN secretary general warned that the world’s patience with the Israelis and the Palestinians was being tested.

BDST: 2140 HRS, AUG 06, 2014