Arab leaders at a Cairo summit have condemned Israeli bombardment of Gaza while Europeans said civilians should be shielded, but with Israel and senior US officials absent, there was no agreement towards containing the violence, Reuters reports.

Egypt, which called the meeting and hosted it, said it had hoped participants would call for peace and resume efforts to resolve the decades-long Palestinian quest for statehood.

But the meeting ended without leaders and foreign ministers agreeing on a joint statement. Diplomats attending the talks had not been optimistic of a breakthrough.