The Non-Aligned Movement has condemned as "disproportionate" Israel's military offensive in Gaza and called for the revival of the stalled Middle East roadmap peace plan.

The chair of the 116-nation grouping, Malaysia's Prime Minister Abdullah Ahmad Badawi, said Israel's use of force and its detention of Palestinian officials was undoing the peace process.

"We condemn Israel's use of disproportionate force in Gaza, which has caused needless deaths and destruction," said Abdullah in a message to the annual Group of Eight summit in Russia, which starts today.

"These actions are further derailing the peace process and undermining the work of Palestinian president Mahmud Abbas ... aimed at promoting a final political settlement on the basis of a two-state solution," he said.

The G8 summit, to be held in Saint Petersburg, brings together the leaders of the United States, Russia, Britain, Canada, France, Germany, Italy and Japan.

The escalation in Middle East violence is likely to dominate the summit, where members of the so-called diplomatic "quartet" for Middle East peace - the US, Russia, the European Union and the United Nations - are present.

"We would urge the G8, several of whose members are also members of the international quartet and the UN Security Council, to make serious efforts to resuscitate the 'road-map'," said Abdullah.

"This still represents the best hope for progress towards a final settlement of the Palestinian-Israeli conflict," he said.

Humanitarian crisis

Israel today continued an air assault on Gaza, part of operations launched after an Israeli corporal was kidnapped by Palestinian militants on June 25.

At least 76 Palestinians and one Israeli soldier have been killed since Israel launched its Gaza offensive, which the UN has warned is causing a humanitarian crisis.

The international community has also issued urgent appeals for calm in the face of Israeli military action in Lebanon in retaliation for the attacks by the Shiite militant group Hezbollah on Israeli forces and towns.

Abdullah urged the international community to respect the Hamas-led Palestinian government, which has suffered from the withdrawal of international aid.

"It must engage the new government through contacts and dialogue; not shun or ostracise it," he said, calling the denial of aid "unconscionable".

Malaysia is the current chairman of NAM, a grouping of mainly developing nations formed during the Cold War as an alternative to the Western and Eastern power blocs.

Since the collapse of communism the grouping has struggled to maintain its relevance.