BEIJING, Jan. 5 (Xinhua) -- The international community has over the past two days continued to condemn Israel's ground invasion of the Gaza Strip following days of intensive airstrikes, calling for an immediate ceasefire in the volatile region.

    South Korean Foreign Ministry spokesman Moon Tae-young said Monday his country would offer 300,000-U.S. dollars worth of humanitarian aid to people in the Gaza Strip.

    "The South Korean government expresses deep concern that the armed conflict in the Gaza Strip and nearby areas is expanding, leading to many casualties including civilians," Moon said at a press briefing.

    "The government urges the related nations to immediately halt the use of force and respond to the international community's call for a truce," he added.

    The Swiss government Sunday called for an immediate cessation of hostilities in Gaza, so as to relieve the suffering of local civilians and guarantee humanitarian access to the region.

    "The cessation of hostilities must guarantee the immediate reopening of all Gaza crossing points and the lifting of the blockade in order to allow rapid delivery of humanitarian aid in the form of aid workers, food, emergency medical aid and fuels," the Swiss Foreign Ministry said in a statement.

    The ministry also protested the denial by Israeli authorities of access to Gaza by an emergency medical team of the International Committee of the Red Cross.

    German Chancellor Angela Merkel spoke on the phone Sunday with Israeli Prime Minister Ehud Olmert, the German government said in a statement.

    In the conversation, Merkel expressed the hope for a quick truce between Israel and Palestine, said the statement.

    The Portuguese Foreign Ministry called on Israel and the Palestinians to work for a solution to their conflicts and stop fighting in the Gaza Strip.

    "Portugal appeals one more time for ending the conflict and the worsening humanitarian situation," the ministry said, "The Portuguese government follows up, with great concerns, the situation in the Middle East, mainly due to the (Israeli) ground military operation in Gaza."

    It is important to immediately implement the ceasefire, resume dialogue and facilitate humanitarian aid to the affected people, the ministry said.

    Finnish Foreign Minister Alexander Stubb, noting that the welfare of the Palestinian civilians has worsened with the launch of an Israeli ground operation against Hamas militants in Gaza, called on Israel to roll back its military operation.

    In his Internet blog, Stubb said he did not believe in a military resolution of the conflict between the two sides.

    The solution lies in lasting and guaranteed security for Israel as well as a viable Palestinian state, he was quoted as saying by the Finnish public broadcaster YLE.

    Algerian Prime Minister Ahmed Ouyahia strongly condemned Israel's military operations in the Gaza Strip, and voiced support for Palestinians' struggle to regain their legitimate rights.

    Senegalese President Abdoulaye Wade also expressed his strong condemnation of Israel's invasion into the Gaza Strip.

    The invasion by the Israeli army is "unjust and unacceptable in flagrant violation of the most elementary principles of the international right," Wade, who is also the sitting chairman of the Organization of the Islamic Conference (OIC), said in a declaration.

    "The Republic of Senegal and the OIC urge Israel to withdraw immediately and without condition from Palestinian territory to put an end to this invasion and to stop air bombardments," he added.

    Wade also said he would travel to Israel and the Gaza Strip to seek ways of ending the fighting in the region.

    On Sunday, Israel intensified its strikes on the Gaza Strip for the ninth consecutive day, a day after its army carried out a large-scale ground operation into the enclave. At least 514 people have been killed and some 2,600 injured since the air attacks began on Dec. 27.