RIYADH: Saudi Arabia along with International leaders making efforts to contain the fighting between Israel and Hamas, Crown Prince Muhammad Bin Salman (MBS) told Palestinian president Mahmud Abbas Tuesday as the resistance group launched its surprise attack against Tel Aviv, inflicting heavy losses.

According to Saudi media reports, the Saudi leader expressed his country's solidarity with the Palestinian people in a conversation with Abbas saying the oil country continued "to stand by the Palestinian people to achieve their legitimate rights to a decent life, achieve their hopes and aspirations, and achieve just and lasting peace."

The surprise attack was launched by Hamas early Saturday with heavy rocket fires killing over 1,000 people in the occupied country. Israel in escalating measures announced an unprecedented blockade to the Gaza Strip in which the supply of food and fuel to war-ravaged Palestinians would be banned.

Israel's foreign ministry said that at least 1,000 Israelis have been killed, while Palestine's health ministry said that the number of martyrs rose to 687. 

The spiralling violence kicked off amid speculation that Saudi Arabia, which has never recognised Israel, would agree to normalise ties as part of a deal in which it would obtain security guarantees from the United States as well as assistance in developing a civilian nuclear programme.

However, MBS told Fox News last month that the Palestinian issue was "very important" for Saudi Arabia, home to the holiest sites in Islam in Mecca and Medina. "We need to solve that part. We need to ease the life of the Palestinians," MBS said.

UN Secretary-General Antonio Guterres said some 137,000 people were taking shelter with UNRWA, the UN agency that provides essential services to Palestinians.

The British, French, German, Italian and US governments issued a joint statement recognising the “legitimate aspirations” of the Palestinian people, and supporting equal measures of justice and freedom for Israelis and Palestinians alike.

They also said they would remain “united and coordinated” to ensure Israel can defend itself.

Egyptian President Abdel Fattah al-Sisi and his Turkish counterpart Tayyip Erdogan called on Hamas and Israel to immediately end violence and protect civilians, the Egyptian presidency said.

Qatari mediators held urgent calls to try to negotiate freedom for Israeli women and children seized by Hamas in exchange for the release of 36 Palestinian women and children from Israeli prisons.

The prospect that fighting could spread alarmed the region and world.

Lebanese armed group Hezbollah fired rockets into northern Israel in response to at least three of its members being killed in Israeli shelling of Lebanon. Israel said one of its deputy commanders was killed in an earlier cross-border raid from Lebanon.