"The cycle of violence in Gaza, in Jerusalem, but also in the West Bank and several cities in Israel risks leading to a major escalation," Jean-Yves Le Drian told parliament.

"Everything must be done to avoid... a conflict" that would be the fourth such deadly confrontation in the last 15 years, he said.

"It is absolutely essential that all actors -- without exception -- show the greatest restraint and refrain from any provocation and any incitement to hatred to put an end to violence whose victims are chiefly Palestinian and Israeli civilians," he said.

Gaza militants have launched more than 1,000 rockets since Monday, according to Israel's army, which has carried out hundreds of air strikes on Islamist groups in the Gaza Strip.

Le Drian said that as well as talking to Palestinian and Israeli counterparts, he would in the next hours be speaking to the Egyptian foreign minister, with Cairo seeking to calm the situation.

France welcomed the efforts of Egypt -- a traditional mediator and close ally of Paris -- and would seek to coordinate French efforts with those of Cairo to agree a ceasefire, Le Drian said.

He said France condemned in the "strongest terms" the firing of missiles from Gaza at Israeli cities including Tel Aviv.

The crisis started last Friday when weeks of tensions boiled over and Israeli riot police clashed with crowds of Palestinians at Jerusalem's Al-Aqsa mosque.

The unrest has been driven by anger over the looming evictions of Palestinian families from the Jerusalem neighbourhood of Sheikh Jarrah.

Le Drian said that France was also "worried" over the situation in Jerusalem and said the Sheikh Jarrah evictions were "colonisation and feed tensions".