UN Secretary-general Ban Ki- moon on Monday reiterated his call for an "immediate and unconditional ceasefire" in the Gaza Strip, where over 1,000 Palestinians and 43 Israeli soldiers have been killed over the past weeks, saying that "in the name of humanity, the violence must stop."

The secretary-general made the remarks to reporters here before his briefing to the UN Security Council on his recent trip to the Middle East, where he made diplomatic efforts to push for a ceasefire in Gaza.

While urging Hamas to stop firing rockets into southern Israel, the secretary-general also called on the Israelis to end its illegal occupation of the Palestinian territory.

"Gaza is in a critical condition. Israeli missiles have pummeled Gaza," Ban said. "Hamas rockets have randomly struck Israel. No country would accept the threat of rockets from above and tunnels from below."

"At the same time, all occupying powers have an international legal obligation to protect civilians," he added.

He said he was "deeply disappointed" that "dangerous hostilities resumed on Sunday" in Gaza, stressing that the obstacle to ending the fighting in Gaza was "political will."

"It is a matter of their political will," said the UN chief. " They have to show their humanity as leaders -- both Israelis and Palestinians."

"And particularly when they continue to fight -- it is only the people, only the civilians -- helpless civilians -- who are suffering and being killed," he said. "That is why I have been urging, first and foremost: stop the fighting. Then, sit down together and address all the root causes. Put all the causes, the underlying issues on the table. That has been my three continuing messages, very simple and continuing messages and I am repeating them again."

"We cannot continue to see many people continue to be killed this way," he emphasized.

A Palestinian was killed and 10 others injured on Sunday after Israeli war jets resumed airstrikes on Gaza, as a UN-proposed humanitarian ceasefire for 42 hours between Israel and Hamas collapsed.

On Sunday afternoon, Hamas spokesman Sami Abu Zuhri said in an emailed press statement that Hamas and the Palestinian factions agreed to accept the UN-proposed ceasefire for 24 hours, but Israel rejected it.

On July 8, Israel launched a large-scale operation on the Gaza Strip, which has so far left 1,030 Palestinians and 43 Israelis killed and more than 6,000 Palestinians injured.

"Israelis and Palestinians have a responsibility to stop the fighting now -- to start the dialogue now -- and to address the root causes that will finally break the endless cycle of senseless suffering," said Ban.

"More suffering and siege conditions in Gaza will only hurt innocent civilians, further isolate Israel, empower extremists on all sides, and leave our world far less safe," he noted. Endite

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