The ex-leader of the Liberal Democrats has called Israel's attacks on Gaza "foolish" and "disproportionate".
And Lord Ashdown was joined by Deputy PM Nick Clegg, who called for peace talks and an end to the violence.
The UK is sending a further £3m for aid in Gaza - bringing its total to £13m.
It comes after a short-lived ceasefire collapsed amid mutual recriminations and a former defence minister became the latest Tory MP to call on No 10 to take a firmer stance on the crisis.
Peter Luff said Israel's actions were "brutal" and "difficult to justify".
Meanwhile, Foreign Secretary Philip Hammond said both sides had to act proportionately and that agreeing a ceasefire was priority.
Speaking to the BBC Radio 4's Today programme, Lord Ashdown said neither Israel nor Palestine could "blast their way to victory" and that the only way forward was for them to "sit down and talk to each other".
Lord Ashdown said negotiations between Israel and Hamas may not be pleasant, but he compared the situation to the conflicts in Bosnia and Northern Ireland where peace deals were brokered.
"In Bosnia particularly, you had to talk to very unpleasant people," he said.
"[Former Serbian president Slobodan] Milosevic was not the kind of person you would invite round to dinner but you had to talk to him."
Lord Ashdown, formerly the UK's special representative in Bosnia, said Israel had been "very foolish" to launch its military strikes given it had the "best anti-missile system in the world".
He said Israel had lost the "support and sympathy of world opinion".
Had UK troops in Afghanistan or Northern Ireland retaliated to civilian attacks and fired back, they would have been "guilty of a crime", he said.
'Tunnels to terrorise'The former Lib Dem leader echoed comments by the current party leader Mr Clegg, who said Israel's action "appeared disproportionate".
Writing in the Guardian, he said: "If Israel wants to secure lasting safety for its people, it must use political will, not military might, to break the cycle of violence."
He also criticised Hamas, saying it used its tunnels to "terrorise Israeli civilians".
The UN-brokered humanitarian ceasefire, intended to last 72 hours, ended on Friday after less than five hours, with both sides blaming each other.
Scores of people have reportedly been killed in fresh clashes while Israeli forces are searching for a soldier believed to have been captured.
The soldier has been named as Hadar Goldin, 23, although Hamas has neither confirmed nor denied capturing a soldier.
Foreign Secretary Mr Hammond said a human ceasefire was "urgently" needed.
Meanwhile, International Development Secretary Justine Greening described the situation in Gaza as "nothing short of a humanitarian catastrophe".
The further £3m being sent to the warzone is to allow a rapid response by aid workers.
Israel has said it is defending itself from attacks by Palestinian militants and blames Hamas for civilian deaths in Gaza, saying fighters deliberately operate from civilian areas.
'Unacceptable'Elsewhere, Tory MP Mr Luff, who was a defence minister between 2010 and 2012, said the Israeli government had an "absolute right" to protect its people from rocket attacks from Hamas militants, but the reported death toll of more than 1,500 Gaza residents - including hundreds of children - was unacceptable.
Other Tory MPs to raise concerns in recent days included former Foreign Office minister Alastair Burt and Margot James, a parliamentary aide to Commons leader William Hague.
Since Israel began its offensive in Gaza on 8 July, more than 1,420 Palestinians have been killed and 8,265 injured, most of them civilians, according to the health ministry.
Israel says it will not stop its operation in Gaza until all the tunnels, which militants use to infiltrate Israeli territory, have been destroyed. Hamas has called on Israel to lift its blockade of the territory.
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