U.N. Secretary-General Kofi Annan spoke with Israeli Prime Minister Ehud Olmert and Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas in separate telephone conversations over the weekend, U.N. spokesman Stephane Dujarric said Monday. The secretary-general urged the Israeli leader to exercise maximum restraint and reiterated the need to protect civilians, Dujarric told reporters, referring to the deaths of at least 28 civilians in Gaza since last week. Dujarric said Annan encouraged Abbas to prevent the firing of rockets on Israel. The Palestinian president has called the Israeli incursion into Gaza a massacre and has urged the international community to act immediately.