"I have conveyed my strong protest and outrage and demanded a full explanation from the defence minister and foreign minister," Ban told reporters in Tel Aviv after the strike on a UN compound in Gaza.

The UN suspended its operations in Gaza after Israeli shells smashed into the compound, setting fire to warehouses holding badly-needed aid.

Other strikes set a hospital on fire and wounded two cameramen in a building housing international and Arab media outlets.

"The number of casualties has reached an unbearable point," said Ban.

Wrapping up a three-day visit to the Palestinian territories and Israel, International Committee of the Red Cross President Jakob Kellenberger also condemned the strikes, saying it was "unacceptable that wounded people receiving treatment in hospitals are put at risk."

Following the bombing of the UN compound, US Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice spoke by telephone to Israeli Defence Minister Ehud Barak and Prime Minister Tzipi Livni, said spokesman Sean McCormack.

"We are also deeply concerned by the situation in Gaza. The situation on the ground is dreadful," he said.

And in Brussels, the European Union's Czech presidency called Israel's attack on the UN building "simply unacceptable," with the EU's humanitarian aid commissioner calling for an investigation -- a call echoed by London-based rights group Amnesty International.

Meanwhile, the UN General Assembly began an emergency session with its president, Nicaragua's Miguel d'Escoto Brockmann, accusing Israel of violating international law by pressing on with its deadly military assault.

"Gaza is ablaze. It has been turned into a burning hell," D'Escoto said, describing numerous violations to international law in the Israeli offensive.

UN Security Council envoys also expressed "grave concern" over the strikes during closed-door consultations, France's UN ambassador told reporters.

"We are calling on all parties to respect international humanitarian law and especially to ensure the protection of civilians," said Jean-Maurice Ripert, the council chair this month.

Since Israel launched its offensive on December 27, at least 1,038 people, including many children, have been killed in the Hamas-run territory, according to Gaza's head of emergency services Moawiya Hassanein. Another 4,850 have been wounded.

France denounced the latest attacks "in the strongest terms," said foreign ministry spokesman Eric Chevallier.

In Berlin, German Chancellor Angela Merkel expressed shock at the humanitarian situation and stressed the need to stop arms smuggling into Gaza.

British Prime Minister Gordon Brown also condemned the violence on both sides and described the attack on the UN headquarters as "indefensible."

Greece strongly protested to Israel after its navy turned back a boat chartered by Greek activists to take medical aid to the Gaza Strip, the foreign ministry said, while the European Parliament similarly denounced the Israeli blockade for preventing aid from arriving in Gaza.

In Rome, Italian Foreign Minister Franco Frattini announced he would accompany an aid convoy into Gaza on Monday. In line with many other world leaders, he called for a ceasefire.

For his part, Iranian President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad accused some Arab and Islamic states of complicity in what he described as the "genocide" being carried out by the Israelis against Palestinians in Gaza.

"Unfortunately, some states in the Arab and Islamic region tolerate or support this rare genocide with silence or a smile of satisfaction," Ahmadinejad said in a letter to Saudi King Abdullah.

And the Council of Jewish Communities in Morocco (CCIM) described the population of Gaza as "sitting targets" who were "suffering under the bombs, the widespread destruction, the lack of food and water."

In Tunisia, more than 2,000 lawyers marched through the capital clad in their traditional black robes and chanting anti-Israeli and pro-Palestinian slogans.

The African Union said it maintained its "strong condemnation of the ongoing intolerable air raids and onslaughts on the Gaza Strip by Israel."

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