Israel's actions in Gaza have gone "beyond the scope of self-defence" and the Israeli government must "cease its collective punishment of the people of Gaza", China's foreign minister Wang Yi said in remarks published Sunday.

Wang, who made the comments on a call to his Saudi Arabian counterpart Prince Faisal bin Farhan on Saturday, said "all parties should not take any action to escalate the situation and should return to the negotiating table as soon as possible," according to a foreign ministry readout.