Two ships carrying medical aid and activists have set sail from Turkey in a new bid to break Israel's blockade of the Gaza Strip, pro-Palestinian activists said on Wednesday.

A statement issued by the Freedom Waves group said the mini-flotilla made up of one Irish ship and one Canadian ship had left Fethiye on Turkey's south coast on Wednesday afternoon and planned to arrive in Gaza on Friday.

The White House said Wednesday it was "deeply disappointed" that Israel decided to speed up settlement building after UNESCO decided to admit the Palestinians, boosting their statehood drive.

"We are deeply disappointed by yesterday's announcement about accelerated housing construction in Jerusalem and the West Bank," said White House spokesman Jay Carney.

German Chancellor Angela Merkel said Wednesday that Berlin wanted the United Nations to take a firmer line on Syria's attacks on civilians after nearly eight months of deadly violence.

Merkel told reporters after talks with Turkish Prime Minister Recep Tayyip Erdogan that they agreed in "condemning the human rights violations occurring in Syria".

Syria accepted Wednesday an Arab League plan to end nearly eight months of bloodshed in the revolt-hit country, as the Arab organization urged Damascus to “seriously” implement the approved roadmap.

The agreement announced at a meeting of Arab foreign ministers in Cairo came amid huge pressure on President Bashar al-Assad's regime, even from traditional allies such as China, to end weeks of prevarication and sign up to the deal drawn up by the pan-Arab bloc.

U.N. chief Ban Ki-moon on Wednesday demanded an immediate end to the Syrian government's crackdown on civilian protesters that has killed more than 3,000 people since mid-March, according to U.N. figures.

"Killing civilians must stop immediately in Syria," Ban told a news conference in Tripoli on his first visit to Libya since the eruption in February of the uprising which toppled veteran tyrant Moammar Gadhafi.

Egypt's ruling generals have announced the pardon of 334 civilians who were sentenced in military tribunals since the uprising that toppled president Hosni Mubarak in February.

In a statement posted on its Facebook page Wednesday, the Supreme Council of the Armed Forces said the move was to support "the continued communication with the great Egyptian people and the youth of the revolution."

EU foreign policy chief Catherine Ashton urged Israel on Wednesday to backtrack on its decision to accelerate building of new settlements in response to Palestinian accession to UNESCO.

"I am deeply concerned by the latest Israeli decisions to expedite settlement activities in response to Palestinian accession to UNESCO," Ashton said in a statement.

France on Wednesday condemned Israel's decision to step up settlement building on occupied land and to withhold tax funds from the Palestinians to punish them for joining U.N. cultural body UNESCO.

"France condemns the decision to accelerate the construction of several thousand homes in settlements in east Jerusalem and surroundings," foreign ministry spokesman Bernard Valero told journalists.

U.N. leader Ban Ki-moon arrived Wednesday in Libya for a surprise visit, an airport official told Agence France Presse, his first since the uprising that ousted Moammar Gadhafi.

Earlier U.N. spokesman Martin Nesirky said Ban would spend one day in Tripoli to meet officials in the National Transitional Council who ousted Gadhafi and representatives of civic group.

Turkey has signaled possible support for a buffer zone to protect Syrian civilians if the Assad regime continues its deadly crackdown on protesters.

Turkish Foreign Minister Ahmet Davutoglu told the Financial Times on Tuesday that Ankara was preparing targeted sanctions against Damascus and left the door open for more drastic steps at a later date, such as a buffer zone or a no fly-zone on Syrian territory.