UN says 'stop fire immediately' as Israel & Hamas escalate strikes

The UN has called for "immediate stop" of fire as Israel and Hamas escalated hostilities on Wednesday with deadly air strikes and retaliatory rocket fire.

U.N. Middle East peace envoy Tor Wennesland tweeted: "Stop the fire immediately. We're escalating towards a full scale war. Leaders on all sides have to take the responsibility of de-escalation.

"The cost of war in Gaza is devastating & is being paid by ordinary people. UN is working w/ all sides to restore calm. Stop the violence now," he wrote.

Israel carried out hundreds of air strikes in Gaza into the early hours of Wednesday, while Hamas claimed that it fired 200 rockets at Israeli towns of Tel Aviv and Beersheba.