The Israeli-Palestinian conflict stirs up passions the world over and never more so than in France where huge Muslim and Jewish communities, a heavy colonial past and societal divides create an explosive mix.

Like many European countries, France has been the scene of protests against the Jewish state's deadly Gaza offensive, but in Paris and the suburb town of Sarcelles, three rallies descended into violence, sending locals scurrying as protesters clashed with riot police.

With 18 soldiers killed in Gaza, the highest military casualty toll in eight years, Israel is in mourning, but has vowed to pursue its mission against Hamas militants.

Thirteen of them were killed on Sunday alone, making it the bloodiest single day for the army since the 2006 war in Lebanon, with the press branding it "a "dark day".

Some 500 people on Monday staged a silent protest in Tokyo against the bloodshed in Gaza, the biggest such gathering in the Japanese capital since the violence began early this month, organizers said.

As night fell demonstrators holding candles formed huge letters spelling "Gaza" in a city park, and offered a one-minute prayer for victims of the violence in the Palestinian territory.

The U.N. Human Rights Council said it will hold an extraordinary meeting on Wednesday to discuss Israel's ongoing military offensive in Gaza.

Monday's announcement followed the deadliest day of fighting between Israel and Hamas in six years, with more than 150 Palestinians and 13 Israeli soldiers killed on Sunday.

World efforts to broker a ceasefire in war-torn Gaza gathered pace Monday as Israel pressed a blistering 14-day assault on the enclave, pushing the Palestinian death toll to 572.

As Washington and the United Nations demanded an "immediate ceasefire" in the battered Palestinian enclave, Israel announced that seven more of its soldiers had been killed during fighting in Gaza, raising the overall Israeli death toll to 27, all but two of them soldiers.

Germany's Jewish community on Monday condemned an "explosion of evil and violent hatred of Jews" at a recent string of pro-Palestinian demonstrations in the country.

Protesters waving Palestinian flags and signs of late leader Yasser Arafat have in recent days openly shouted angry anti-Semitic slogans at rallies against Israel's Gaza offensive, according to German media.

Abu Dhabi has accused the Al-Jazeera TV channel and websites close to Qatar of "fabricating" information suggesting UAE supported Israel's operation in Gaza, in the latest tensions between both countries.

Relations between Qatar and its Gulf neighbours Saudi Arabia, the UAE and Bahrain sank to a new low in March when the three governments withdrew their ambassadors from Doha, accusing it of meddling in their affairs and supporting the Muslim Brotherhood.

Kuwait called on U.N. Secretary General Ban Ki-moon on Monday to urge the international community to put an end to the Israeli "aggression" in Gaza which has claimed 508 lives.

The call came in a meeting between Foreign Minister Sheikh Sabah Khaled Al-Sabah and Ban who arrived in Kuwait on Monday in the second leg of a regional tour aimed at pushing for a ceasefire in Gaza.

U.S. Secretary of State John Kerry appeared to criticize Israel in candid remarks caught on an open microphone between television interviews Sunday.

Kerry was heard talking about Israeli soldiers killed in Gaza to a State Department official identified as Jonathan Finer just before appearing on the "Fox News Sunday" political talk show.

Two American members of the Israeli Defense Force have been killed in Gaza fighting, U.S. media reported late Sunday, citing relatives and friends.