A senior U.N. official said on Thursday that U.N. Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon is Alarmed that the Israelis and Palestinians are engaged in a downward spiral of actions and counter actions and calls on both sides **t to exacerbate existing divisions. Israel is withholding critical tax revenue and seeking ways to bring war crimes prosecutions against Palestinian leaders in retaliation for the Palestinian moves to join the International Criminal Court. U.N. deputy political affairs chief, Jens Anders Toyberg-Frandzen told the U.N. Security Council, "The Israeli-Palestinian conflict is **w entering unchartered territory, which, lamentably, seems to have dashed any immediate hope for a return to peace talks."