The United Nations Security Council, UNSC, today called for an immediate ceasefire in the Gaza Strip. The call came at an emergency meeting held behind closed-doors, after one of the bloodiest days yesterday in 13 days of conflict that saw 97 Palestinian people killed by the Israeli Defence Forces.The powerful 15-nation Council expressed serious concern about the escalation of violence in and around Gaza. The Council also emphasized the need to improve the humanitarian situation such as the five-hour truce brokered last week.

The UNSC meeting came even as United Nations Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon is in the Middle East region as part of a visit aimed at expressing solidarity with Israelis and Palestinians and help bringing about a ceasefire. Ban Ki-moon yesterday condemned the killings and called for an immediate end to the fighting. US Secretary of State John Kerry would leave today for Egypt where he will join diplomatic efforts to resume a truce that had been agreed to in November 2012.

Meanwhile, 16 more Palestinians were killed this morning in an Israeli air strike on a house in the south of the Gaza strip. With this the death toll since 8th of this month has risen to 501. Israel has said its 18 soldiers have been killed since the ground operation began last week, the largest number of Israeli soldiers killed in combat since the 2006 Lebanon war.