DHAKA: The UN Security Council has called for an immediate ceasefire in Gaza after holding an emergency closed-door meeting on the crisis.

The talks came after the UN chief described Israel’s shelling of a Gaza City suburb as ‘an atrocious action’.

A total of 501 people have now died in Gaza during Israel’s operation against Hamas militants, according to Gaza's Ministry of Health, with 3,135 injured.

US Secretary of State John Kerry is due in Egypt to discuss the crisis.

He will meet political leaders in Cairo on Monday, as efforts to broker a ceasefire continue.

On Sunday Gaza saw its deadliest day since the Israeli offensive began on 8 July, with 13 Israeli soldiers and more than 100 Palestinians killed.

Twenty Palestinians have been killed in strikes so far on Monday, the Gaza health ministry says, 16 of them in southern Gaza, reports the BBC.

BDST: 1308 HRS, JUL 21, 2014