News desk :The UN Security Council has called for an immediate ceasefire between Israel and Palestinians in Gaza as death toll hits 518.US Secretary of State John Kerry is also heading to Cairo for talks on the crisis amid the mounting death toll.Sunday’s late-night UN Security Council session was convened at the request of Jordan, which is understood to have proposed a strongly worded draft resolution for consideration.However, the 15-member council instead issued a statement to the media, with Rwanda’s UN ambassador calling for “an immediate cessation of hostilities”.Eugene Gasana said members voiced alarm at the escalation of violence during a “sobering session”.UN Secretary General Ban Ki-moon had earlier spoken out on the situation, describing an Israeli assault on the densely populated Shejaiya neighbourhood of Gaza as “an atrocious action”.More than 60 Palestinians alone were killed during heavy shelling in Shejaiya, in what Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas called “a massacre”.He called for urgent talks, saying the “situation is intolerable” in Gaza and describing the Israeli attacks as “crimes against humanity.”Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu vowed to continue operations “as much as we need to” despite the number of Israeli soldiers killed rising to 18 at the weekend.Many civilians may have fled but clearly others remained. Now the fighting is close-up and bitter and it’s taking a toll on the Israelis as well.This may well be exactly what Hamas military commanders wanted: to draw the Israeli forces into a close urban environment, a difficult battleground for any modern army.In an interview with BBC Arabic, Netanyahu called Shejaiya a “terror stronghold” and a centre for rocket attacks on Israel.Israel sent ground troops into Gaza after days of heavy air and naval barrages failed to stop rocket fire.Israel says the ground operation is necessary to target Hamas’ network of tunnels, which it says have been used by militants to infiltrate Israel and carry out attacks.
