New York: United Nations Secretary General Kofi Annan has slammed Israel for using "disproportionate and excessive force" in a Gaza refugee camp which led to the killing of 11 Palestinians and injuring more than 140, and asked it to protect the lives of innocent civilians.

"Such military actions in densely populated areas, as well as the demolition of Palestinian homes, cannot be accepted as legitimate means of self-defence and it violates international humanitarian laws," UN spokesman Fred Eckhard said in a statement on Israel's military action in the Jabalya refugee camp on March 6.

Stressing the need for protecting the lives of innocent civilians, he said, "The Secretary General once again wishes to remind Israel of its obligations in this regard."

Israeli tanks and troops backed by helicopters had raided a refugee camp in the Gaza Strip on March 6, killing 11 Palestinians and injuring 140, in an apparent retaliation to a suicide bomb attack that killed 15 Israelis in Northern Haifa town.

PTI