UN Secretary General Ban Ki-moon has strongly condemned the killing by the Israeli military of four Palestinian civilians, two of them children, in the Gaza Strip.
Ban "is very concerned at an escalating situation in Gaza and southern Israel - he reiterates as well his condemnation of rocket fire by Palestinian militant groups in Gaza, including from populated areas, against civilian targets in southern Israel," the UN chief said in statement on Tuesday.
"He calls on all to respect their obligations under international humanitarian law and human rights law."
News that makes sense
Your trusted source for staying up-to-date with the world around you. Get free daily news updates and analysis, straight to your inbox.
Earlier eight Palestinians - among them four militants - were killed in two separate Israeli attacks on the eastern part of Gaza City.
In one of the attacks, four civilian victims were killed when an Israeli shell hit a family home in Shejaiya, medics said.
The surge in bloodshed follows days of rising cross-border violence, which has ramped up tensions between Israel and Gaza's Islamist Hamas rulers and again raised fears of a large-scale Israeli military incursion.
The bloodshed drew an angry response from the armed wing of Hamas, the Ezzedine al-Qassam Brigades.
"This crime will not go unpunished and the resistance is not afraid of the so-called Zionist deterrence," a Hamas website quoted Brigades spokesman Abu Obeid as saying.
Hamas premier Ismail Haniya in a statement urged the UN Security Council, "which has not hesitated to take decisions and implement them rapidly, as with Libya, to do the same to protect our people and punish the Israeli occupation."
And Palestinian president Mahmud Abbas, currently in Moscow, condemned "the Israeli escalation which has cost the lives of many Palestinians, including children," his spokesman Nabil Abu Rudeina said.
"We ask everyone to remain calm so that it does not affect Mahmud Abbas's planned visit to Gaza which is aimed at forming a government to end the division and to lift the siege on Gaza," he added.
Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu expressed regret over the accidental deaths, but emphasised that the shooting came in response to Hamas firing at Israeli citizens.
"It is unfortunate that Hamas continues to rain dozens of rockets down on Israeli civilians, intentionally using civilians as human shields. Israel has no intention of causing the situation to deteriorate but at the same time, the IDF will continue to act decisively to protect Israeli citizens."
