NEW YORK, November 24 (RIA Novosti) - The Middle East peace process and political efforts for a negotiated two-state solution have reached "a deep and worrying impasse," the UN assistant secretary general has said.

Haile Menkerios told the Security Council that with no Israeli-Palestinian negotiations underway, no agreed terms of reference for such talks, and Israel's refusal to freeze settlements posing a key challenge, "immediate actions" should be made to prevent the failure of the peace efforts.

"It is vital at this juncture that the international community takes a clear and united position," he was quoted as saying by the official UN website.

"This is a loud and clear wake-up call. If we cannot move decisively forward to a final status agreement, we risk sliding backwards, with both the Palestinian Authority and the two-state solution itself imperiled," Menkerios went on.

He said he was also worried by the possible withdrawal of Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas from the January 24, 2010 elections.

Abbas recently said he would not run in Palestinian presidential elections in January, citing a lack of progress in peace talks and criticizing Washington for failing to press Israel on halting Israeli settlement construction.

The UN official added that the negotiations are also hampered by Jewish settlement construction. In the most recent move, Israel has approved the construction of 900 more housing units to expand the Gilo settlement in East Jerusalem. It will result in the demolition of 17 Palestinian houses, and the displacement of about a hundred  Palestinians, more than half of them children.

Jewish settlement construction has been a major obstacle to reviving peace talks with the Palestinians.