The UN Security Council is scheduled to meet behind closed doors at 10:00 PM EST on Saturday (03:00GMT on Sunday) to discuss the latest violence and bloodshed in the Israel-Palestine conflict, diplomatic sources said in the United Nations.

The 15-member council's meeting came after Israeli warplanes pounded dozens of security compounds across the Hamas-ruled territory in unprecedented waves of airstrikes on Saturday to retaliate for rocket fire from the Gaza Strip, killing over 200 people and wounding many more in the single bloodiest day of fighting in years.

Earlier on Saturday, UN Secretary-general Ban Ki-moon called for an immediate halt to the violence in Gaza and southern Israel, condemning excessive use of force leading to civilian casualties and ongoing rocket attacks by militants.

In a statement issued by his spokesperson, Ban said that he is "deeply alarmed" by the heavy violence and bloodshed in Gaza, and the continuation of violence in southern Israel, and called for "an immediate halt to all violence."

The bloodshed took place at a time when the international community, including the Quartet which groups the United Nations, the European Union, the United States and Russia, is making painstaking efforts to seek a two-state solution to the Israel-Palestine conflicts -- a Palestinian state to live in peace with a secure Israel.

(Xinhua News Agency December 28, 2008)