The UN Secretary-General António Guterres declared that de-escalation of the Palestine-Israel conflict was “an absolute must,” saying that the mounting death toll, including children, is unacceptable.

Mr Guterres, after meeting with Russian Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov in Moscow, said an end to the violence was needed “to protect the lives of civilians that are now dying in totally unacceptable circumstances.”

According to news reports, the violence has seen more than 50 Palestinians killed along with six Israelis since Monday.

Meanwhile, in New York, the renewed conflict represents the most serious escalation between Israelis and Palestinians “in years,” the UN Special Coordinator for the region told the Security Council.

UN spokesperson Stéphane Dujarric briefed reporters in New York at the regular noon press conference on the update given by Tor Wennesland to the Council, which met behind closed doors.

“We are very concerned by the growing civilian casualties in both Gaza and Israel and deeply saddened by reported deaths of children in Gaza,” Mr Dujarric said.

He said both the secretary-general and Mr Wennesland had both reiterated that Hamas and other militants’ indiscriminate launching of rockets and mortars violated the humanitarian law.

“They have emphasised that indiscriminate launching of rockets from highly populated civilian neighbourhoods towards civilian population centres violated international humanitarian law, and it is unacceptable and has to stop immediately,” he added.

The spokesperson said the special envoy for the Middle East Peace Process had also told ambassadors that Israeli authorities must “abide by their responsibilities under international law.”

In addition, he said Israeli security forces should exercise maximum restraint, calibrate their use of force to spare civilians and civilian objects in the conduct of military operations.