Israeli troops battled Palestinian fighters on Wednesday in Gaza, where nearly 1,000 people have now been killed in the war on Gaza, and rockets slammed into northern Israel from Lebanon for the second time in less than a week.
UN chief Ban Ki-moon arrived in Cairo at the start of a regional tour aimed at stopping the "unacceptable" war that has sparked outrage across the world.
At least three Palestinians were killed across the Gaza Strip overnight as Israel pounded the territory with more than 60 air and naval strikes and ground troops clashed with fighters in the streets of cities, the army said.
Israeli warplanes blasted Gaza's southern border with Egypt with some three dozen bombing raids, sending panicked residents fleeing, witnesses said.
UN chief Ban arrived in Cairo on the first stop of his tour that will take him to Jordan, Israel, the West Bank city of Ramallah, Turkey, Syria, Lebanon and Kuwait, where he was to attend an Arab League summit next Monday.
Ban has repeatedly appealed for an end to the fighting around Gaza, which he has slammed as "unacceptable." But the Jewish state has ignored a UN Security Council resolution demanding an immediate ceasefire.
"My message is simple, direct and to the point: the fighting must stop," Ban said in his first press conference of the year. "Too many people have died. There has been too much civilian suffering."
Israel has for months maintained a tight stranglehold on the territory which is home to 1.5 million Palestinians, letting in only limited supplies of humanitarian aid since Hamas seized total control of the Strip in June 2007 following the collapse of a unity government.
Since Israel unleashed Operation Cast Lead on Hamas on December 27, at least 979 Palestinians have been killed, including 292 children, and more than 4,500 people wounded, according to Gaza medics.
The offensive -- Israel's deadliest ever against Gaza -- has sparked withering criticism and protests and concern about a humanitarian crisis breaking out in the densely populated territory where half of the population is under 18 years of age.
Aid agencies have warned of a growing humanitarian crisis because the vast majority of the 1.5 million population depends on foreign aid.
PHOTO CAPTION
Palestinians look at a house destroyed after an Israeli air strike in Gaza City January 14, 2009.
AFP