The Secretary-General of the United Nations, Kofi Annan, has condemned a fresh Israeli assault on a Palestinian refugee camp and urged Israel to better protect civilians and return to peace talks.
"The Secretary-General reiterates that Israel, as the occupying power, must protect the civilian population and desist from using disproportionate force," UN chief spokesman Fred Eckhard said.
"He strongly urges the government of Israel to refrain from such violent actions and return to peaceful negotiations with its Palestinian partners according to the quartet's road map,"
Eckhard said, referring to the Middle East peace plan set out by the quartet of international mediators - the United States, European Union, Russia and United Nations.
Eckhard spoke with reporters after Israeli troops and tanks swept into the Rafah refugee camp in the Gaza Strip, killing eight Palestinians and wounding at least 40 just hours after Israel lost two soldiers in an ambush in central Gaza last night.
Annan "strongly condemns" the incursion, which had killed and wounded many civilians and destroyed several houses, Eckhard said. Many children were among the wounded, he added.