Italy joined European partners on Wednesday in condemning an Israeli artillery strike in Gaza which killed 18 Palestinian civilians, some of them as they slept in their beds.
The strike was the "unacceptable culmination" of a long period of escalating violence in the Gaza Strip, Italian Foreign Minister Massimo D'Alema said, calling for rapid international intervention.
"This violence which strikes civilians indiscriminately serves only to sow hatred and create new dangers," he said, urging Israel to cease military operations in Gaza.
D'Alema said the international community should step in immediately to halt the violence and bring the two sides back to the negotiating table.
The minister expressed the hope that Hamas and Al Fatah would not follow through on promises to launch a wave of suicide bombings against Israel. He also noted that 350 Palestinians have been killed in recent months.
Italy's Foreign Trade Minister Emma Bonino, in Tel Aviv for meetings with Israeli government officials, also voiced Italy's "consternation" during talks with Foreign Minister Tzipi Livni.
The killings in Beit Hanun, from where militants have in the past launched rocket attacks on Israel, marked the worst massacre in the territory for four years.
Israeli Defence Minister Amir Peretz has ordered an enquiry into the incident and in the meantime shelling in the area has been halted.
According to analysts, the civilian deaths could mean pressure on Israel to curb its Gaza offensive will now increase. Its military campaign in the area began in June after militants seized a soldier.
Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas described the killings in Beit Hanun as a "horrible and ugly massacre".
The United Nations Mideast envoy Oriente Alvaro de Soto expressed his "shock and consternation" over the shelling of Beit Hanun.
