On a recent trip to Israel and the Palestinian territories, Sardar Muhammad Javaid Sarwar, director of the Institute of Peace and Development Belgium, told human rights activists and journalists at a Jerusalem press conference that efforts to secure a lasting regional peace were urgently needed from the international community.

Otherwise, he stressed, the continuing atmosphere of hate would threaten regional as well as world peace, adding that wars, aggression, and violence were never the solution to problems between nations - they merely exacerbated hostilities.

Sarwar, whose regional visit was at the invitation of the Universal Peace Federation, pointed out that Jews and Muslims were both descendants of the Prophet Abraham, and were called to abide by their linked faiths' fundamental thoughts and teachings, without discrimination.

Joining Sarwar was Philippe Jacques, Universal Peace Federation Belgium secretary-general who, in elaborating on the turmoil in Gaza, said it was vital for world bodies and institutions to engineer a lasting peace to the Israeli-Palestinian conflict.