Even as international efforts to broker a ceasefire intensified, Israel on Tuesday stepped up its offensive on the Gaza Strip. The 15-day old conflict has so far claimed more than 600 Palestinian lives.

Palestinian health ministry said that at least five persons were killed and 70 others injured in the latest Israeli strike on a hospital in Gaza. Several doctors were also wounded in the attack. However, Israel Defence Forces said it had targeted a cache of anti-tank missiles in the hospital's immediate vicinity.

While Israel has said that its forces have killed more than 180 militants, United Nations has estimated that seventy to eighty per cent of the casualties were civilians, including at least 120 children. UN agencies working in Gaza said that more than one lakh Gazans have been displaced.