France's Fabius Blasts Palestinian Deaths as Unacceptable

French Foreign Minister Laurent Fabius on Tuesday blasted as unacceptable the number of Palestinian casualties as Israel continued its bloody offensive on Gaza.

"It's unacceptable that a country be threatened by rockets, but the response has to be proportionate," he said in a televised interview, as the Palestinian death toll rose to more than 620 on the 15th day of a conflict that has also killed 29 Israelis.

"600 deaths is obviously something that we cannot accept."

Fabius's comments are a marked change from France's initial stance at the beginning of the conflict, when Israel launched an air offensive on Gaza in response to rockets fired into the Jewish state by Hamas militants.

President Francois Hollande then condemned "aggressions" against the Jewish state but made no mention of Palestinian casualties.

Earlier on Tuesday, Fabius condemned "continued attacks and massacres" both in Israel and in Gaza, ahead of an EU foreign ministers' meeting that called on Israel to "act proportionately."