UNITED NATIONS, Oct 8: UN Secretary-General Kofi Annan on Monday condemned an attack by Israeli tanks and helicopters that killed 14 Palestinians in a Gaza neighbourhood, warning that such acts have “no legal or moral justification” and could further escalate violence.

A spokesman for Kofi Annan issued a statement voicing the secretary-general’s particular concern over reports that an Israeli gunship helicopter fired a missile into a crowd of civilians in “reckless disregard” of the obligation under international humanitarian law to protect the civilian population.

“Such actions have no legal or moral justification,” spokesman Fred Eckhard told reporters, reiterating Kofi Annan’s appeal to both sides to halt all violent and provocative acts, as called for by the Security Council.

“Actions like those carried out this morning do not promote Israeli security,” the statement stressed, warning that “they could lead to a further escalation while increasing the sense of vulnerability and insecurity among both the Palestinians and Israelis.”

Palestinians said the dead were civilians, while Israel said most were fighters killed in battle. Another 110 people were injured during the four-hour raid by about 40 tanks, backed by helicopters.

The US State Department on Monday also expressed concern over civilian casualties, but backed Israel’s right to defend itself. Moscow called it a “disproportionate” use of force and the European Union’s top diplomat, who is touring the region, said he was shocked.

In Moscow, the Russian Foreign Ministry said in a statement that the scale of Monday’s operation, “in particular the use of tanks and aviation in a highly populated region, was clearly disproportionate.”

Russia’s special envoy for the Middle East, Andrei Vdovin, was to depart for the region on Thursday to pursue efforts to ease tensions, following Russian talks with Israeli and Palestinian leaders in Moscow this week.

Javier Solana, the European Union’s foreign policy chief who is visiting the Mideast, said he was shocked by the number of casualties. “I think that it is even more dramatic because of the efforts that the Palestinian people were making in order to get out of the way of violence in recent weeks,” he said.

In a related development, the UN Relief and Works Agency for Palestine Refugees in the Near East reported that a local hospital was fired upon during the attack in Khan Yunis, where students didn’t show up for school today because of the violence.