Eight local television networks overcame their political differences on Monday evening and aired a unified newscast in solidarity with war-battered Gaza, where at least 570 people were killed in 14 days of Israeli aggression.

"Gaza...you are not alone” was the title of the unified newscast, which got underway at 8:10 pm on all local channels. It kicked off with a tribute by renowned Palestinian poet Mahmoud Darwish to his homeland. His voice glorified Palestine through his famed poem “Ala Hathihi al-Ard Ma Yastaheq al-Hayat” (On this Land, There's What is Worth Living For).

The Israeli-Palestinian conflict stirs up passions the world over and never more so than in France where huge Muslim and Jewish communities, a heavy colonial past and societal divides create an explosive mix.

Like many European countries, France has been the scene of protests against the Jewish state's deadly Gaza offensive, but in Paris and the suburb town of Sarcelles, three rallies descended into violence, sending locals scurrying as protesters clashed with riot police.

World efforts to broker a ceasefire in war-torn Gaza gathered pace Monday as Israel pressed a blistering 14-day assault on the enclave, pushing the Palestinian death toll to 572.

As Washington and the United Nations demanded an "immediate ceasefire" in the battered Palestinian enclave, Israel announced that seven more of its soldiers had been killed during fighting in Gaza, raising the overall Israeli death toll to 27, all but two of them soldiers.

The ambulances and firetrucks of Gaza's emergency services gathered on the edge of the Shejaiya district to await news of a humanitarian ceasefire between Israel and the Palestinian Hamas group.

The word arrived at 1030GMT -- a two-hour truce to allow the retrieval of the dead and wounded, as well as evacuate the terrified people who remained inside the district after a night of non-stop Israeli tank fire.

Parts of central London were brought to a standstill on Saturday as thousands of pro-Palestinians marched in protest against Israel's offensive in Gaza, while in Paris a banned demonstration descended into violence.

Organizers of the London rally claimed that "tens of thousands" of people joined the march from Prime Minister David Cameron's office to the Israeli embassy, many of them chanting "Israel is a terror state".

The Gaza death toll hit 285 on Friday as Israel pressed a major ground offensive on the 11th day of an operation to stamp out militant rocket fire, medics said.

And a soldier was killed as the offensive got under way, raising the Israeli death toll to two, the army said.

The Israeli army's ground offensive in Gaza is purportedly aimed at destroying a network of sophisticated cross-border tunnels, which Hamas and other militants have dug to infiltrate Israeli lines.

In 2006 Israel imposed a blockade on the impoverished coastal enclave after Gaza militants captured an Israeli soldier in a cross-border raid.

French police have banned a pro-Palestinian demonstration in Paris on Saturday after protesters last weekend tried to storm two synagogues in the capital during a similar rally.

Police said in a statement Friday they could not guarantee a safe march "due to heightened tensions" fueled by the Israeli-Palestinian conflict.

Pope Francis on Friday phoned Israeli President Shimon Peres and Palestinian president Mahmoud Abbas to call for an immediate ceasefire in the Gaza conflict, the Vatican said.

Francis "reminded the presidents" about the need "to bring an end to hostilities, making efforts to promote a truce, peace and reconciliation in the hearts of those involved", read a statement from the Vatican.

The United States on Thursday urged Israel to do more to protect civilians in the conflict with the Palestinian Hamas movement, after Israeli air strikes killed four children in Gaza.

"We ask (Israel) to redouble their efforts to prevent civilian casualties. We believe there is more that can be done," State Department spokeswoman Jen Psaki told reporters.