The United Nation's top humanitarian official has described Israeli violence in Gaza as a "disproportionate use of force" that has had profound humanitarian consequences.
Relatives of Khitam al-Tayeh, 11, grieve during her funeral in Gaza City today. Tayeh died yesterday after an Israeli shell landed near her in the town of Beit Lahiya.
Mr Jan Egeland, the UN under-secretary general for humanitarian affairs, made his comments as eight people were wounded by Israeli air strikes.
He told reporters of his shock at the Israeli targetting of Palestinian infrastructure as he toured a destroyed power plant south of Gaza City.
"This is very clear, a disproportionate use (of power)...Civilian infrastructure is protected. The law is very clear. You cannot have any interpretation in any other way."
Israel bombed the $150 million facility late last month, as it launched a military campaign to try to recover a soldier captured by Palestinian militants in a raid from Gaza .
The 140-Megawatt reactor, which took five years to build, supplied about two-thirds of the electricity needed in the Gaza Strip, which is home to around 1.4 million Palestinians. It is expected to take at least 10 months to fix.
Since its destruction, much of Gaza has been without power and many are now dependent on electricity imports from Israel. While some families and businesses have generators, there is scarce fuel available in Gaza to run them.
Knocking out the power plant has also had consequences for Gaza 's water supply since pumps rely on electricity.
"This plant is more important for hospitals, for sewage, for water, for civilians than for any Hamas or Islamic Jihad man with some kind of a missile on his shoulder," said Egeland .
"He doesn't need electricity as much as a mother trying to care for a child."
At the same time, the Norwegian diplomat said rockets being fired by Hamas and other militant groups into Israel had to stop and with it Israel's incursions into Gaza over the past month, designed to stop the rockets and find the captured soldier.
Since launching its operations in Gaza , Israeli forces have killed about 115 Palestinians, the majority civilians. Many buildings in Gaza have also been destroyed in missile strikes, including several government ministries.