Israel's war on Hamas in Gaza has now killed more than 1,000 people, medics have said.
As UN Secretary General Ban Ki-moon arrived in the region seeking to end a war now in its 19th day, doctors in Gaza said a total of 1,001 people have now been killed with a further 4,580 wounded.
The scale of the task facing diplomats was highlighted when rockets struck northern Israel from Lebanon, the second such attack in less than a week.
The diplomatic fallout from Israel’s offensive in Gaza became evident when a senior EU official said talks on upgrading ties with the Jewish state had been put on hold.
Meanwhile, Egypt has pushed on with its efforts to bring about a ceasefire, promising to convey Hamas' response to a truce proposal to Israel.
The Israeli military hit the densely-populated coastal strip with more than 60 air and naval strikes this morning.
Aircraft attacked Gaza's southern border with Egypt with some three dozen bombing raids, sending panicked residents fleeing.
Hamas has repeatedly vowed to keep fighting and today 12 rockets and mortars were fired into Israel from Gaza. An estimated 750 rockets have been fired since the start of the Israeli offensive on 27 December.
In a recording posted on the Internet entitled 'A Call for Jihad to Stop Aggression Against Gaza,' Osama bin Laden called for a holy war to restore 'Jerusalem and Palestine.'
The al-Qaeda leader also criticised the Arab handling of the Gaza conflict.
UN chief urges ceasefire
The UN Secretary General's arrival in Cairo this morning is the start of a regional tour aimed at stopping the conflict that he has described as unacceptable.
Both Israel and Hamas ignored last week's UN Security Council resolution demanding an immediate halt to the fighting.
Mr Ban is also due to travel to Jordan, Israel, the West Bank city of Ramallah, Turkey, Syria, Lebanon and Kuwait, where he is to attend an Arab League summit next Monday.
'My message is simple, direct and to the point: the fighting must stop,' he said yesterday.
Egypt, which brokered a six-month truce between Israel and Hamas last June, has been spearheading efforts to end the fighting.
Ten Israeli soldiers and three civilians have been killed in combat or by rocket attacks during the same time.
