UNITED NATIONS, Oct 3: UN Secretary General Kofi Annan on Sunday called on Israel to end its offensive in the Gaza Strip, which has left 69 people dead in the last five days.

"The secretary general calls on the government of Israel to halt its military incursions into the Gaza Strip, which have led to the deaths of scores of Palestinians, among them many civilians, including children," his spokesman Fred Eckhard said in a statement.

"The secretary general likewise calls on the Palestinian Authority to take action to halt the firing of rockets against Israeli targets by Palestinian militants. He reminds both sides to this conflict that they have a legal obligation to protect all civilians."

Sixty-nine people - all but three of them Palestinians - have been killed during the five-day incursion, the deadliest in the impoverished Gaza Strip since the start of the Palestinian uprising against Israeli occupation. Three of the victims were Israelis, two of them soldiers. -AFP