The world reacted with horrified shock on Wednesday to an Israeli army attack on Palestinian homes in the Gaza Strip that killed 18 civilians, eight of them children.

His Majesty King Abdullah telephoned Abbas and condemned the "horrible massacre", pledging to "exert all the efforts necessary to stop the Israeli military operations".

He called on the international community to take “swift action” to help revive the peace process.

Condemnation poured in from the United Nations, the European Union, the Middle East and Europe over what Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas called a "black day".

Agence France-Presse