Quentin Somerville met one relative of a soldier killed in Israel
The lifting of the economic blockade of the Gaza Strip must form part of any ceasefire deal, the Palestinian prime minister has said.
Speaking during a visit by the UN secretary general, Rami Hamdallah said it was time for the "siege to stop".
His call backs that of Hamas, which has insisted on an end to the Israeli-Egypt blockade as a condition for a truce.
More than 640 Palestinians and 31 Israelis have been killed in the past 15 days of fighting, officials say.
Israel launched its offensive 15 days ago with the declared objective of stopping rocket fire from Gaza.
Fighting continued overnight on Tuesday. An air strike in Khan Younis in the southern Gaza Strip left at least five people dead. An Israeli soldier was also killed.
A Palestinian woman the BBC filmed being pulled from the rubble of a Gaza blast on Sunday also died from her injuries, her doctor said. Ten of her relatives were killed in the blast.
'Hamas accountable'
UN chief Ban Ki-moon and US Secretary of State John Kerry are in the region to try to put an end to the fighting.
They both called for an immediate end to hostilities and for the underlying causes of the conflict to be addressed.
Earlier, Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu said Hamas should be held accountable for rejecting an Egyptian ceasefire proposal.
Hamas, which is dominant in Gaza, says it will not agree to a ceasefire that does not allow for freer movement of goods and people across its borders.
Several major airlines announced that they would suspend flights to Israel after a rocket from Gaza struck near Tel Aviv's Ben Gurion airport. Israel has asked the US to review the flight ban.
Mr Hamdallah, the prime minister of the new unity government backed by Hamas and Fatah, said it was time to end what he said was the cycle of unrelenting suffering for the Palestinians.
"We demand justice for our people, who everyday and since the beginning of the Israeli occupation have been subject to the occupation for 47 years," he said.
"It's time for this aggression to stop and it's time for this siege to stop."
Israel imposed restrictions on the Gaza Strip in 2006 after Hamas abducted Israeli soldier Gilad Shalit. The measures were tightened by Israel and Egypt in 2007 after Hamas ousted rival Fatah and forcibly took control in Gaza after winning elections the year before.
Hamas and Fatah announced a reconciliation deal in April, but the move was condemned by Israel which regards Hamas as a terrorist group.
The Palestine Liberation Organisation, an umbrella group that includes Fatah, has endorsed Hamas's core conditions for a ceasefire, the BBC's Yolande Knell in Gaza City reports.
'No-go zones'
Before the overnight violence, Gaza's health ministry said 637 Palestinians had been killed in the past two weeks.
Authorities also said that the number of injured had passed 4,000 for the first time since the fighting began.
The majority of Palestinians killed have been civilians, including dozens of children, according to the UN.
The IDF also says it has killed more than 170 militants. Israel says 29 of its soldiers and two Israeli civilians have been killed over the past two weeks.
Palestinian Prime Minister Rami Hamdallah said that he wanted "justice for the Palestinian people".
Israeli soldier Jordan Bensimon, originally from France, was buried on Tuesday
Palestinian health officials say more than 600 people have been killed and thousands injured in the last two weeks
The UN relief agency UNRWA said more than 118,300 Palestinians have now taken refuge in its shelters. It says 43% of Gaza has been affected by evacuation warnings or declared no-go zones.
One Palestinian was also killed during a protest against Israeli troops in the West Bank town of Bethlehem.
Eyewitnesses said that 32-year old Mahmud al-Hamamra was shot from a passing vehicle.
Two Israelis were injured when a rocket fired from Gaza exploded near Ben Gurion airport.
Flights cancelled
Several American and European airlines cancelled flights to the airport after the attack, with one Delta airlines jet turning around mid-flight.
Israel's transportation ministry said that the decision "handed terror a prize", and Benjamin Netanyahu asked the US to reconsider the suspension.
Earlier, John Kerry said a recent Egyptian truce plan should form the basis of a ceasefire.
Gaza "terror tunnels"
Speaking in Egypt, Mr Kerry said the US was concerned about Palestinian casualties, but lent his support to Israel's "appropriate and legitimate" military operation.
He also said the US was sending $47m (£28m) in aid to Gaza "to alleviate the immediate humanitarian crisis".
Israel launched its ground operation in Gaza after days of air strikes, following rocket fire by militants into Israeli towns.
It says the move is necessary to target Hamas' network of tunnels, which have been used by militants to infiltrate Israel and carry out attacks.
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