President Barack Obama has urged Israel to halt the Gaza offensive immediately, as new figures showed that 218 Palestinian children have been killed in the conflict so far.
Mr Obama telephoned Benjamin Netanyahu, the Israeli prime minister, to press the need for a ceasefire.
In this conversation, the president “made clear the strategic imperative of instituting an immediate, unconditional humanitarian ceasefire that ends hostilities now”, said a White House statement.
John Kerry, the US secretary of state, proposed a truce between Israel and Hamas, the radical Islamist movement, on Friday – only for his plan to be turned down by both belligerents.
Despite the failure of that effort ? and the vitriolic criticism of Mr Kerry from Israeli officials in their national press ? Mr Obama’s intervention directly with Mr Netanyahu shows that America will sustain the diplomatic pressure for a ceasefire.
