US President Joe Biden spoke with Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu Monday night and "reiterated his firm support for Israel's right to defend itself against indiscriminate rocket attacks," the White House said in a statement.
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The American president also "encouraged Israel to make every effort to ensure the protection of innocent civilians" and expressed support for a ceasefire with Gaza's terrorist Hamas rulers.
According to the statement, "The two leaders discussed progress in Israel's military operations against Hamas and other terrorist groups in Gaza. The President expressed his support for a ceasefire and discussed US engagement with Egypt and other partners towards that end. The two leaders agreed that they and their teams would remain in close touch."
An administration official familiar with the call said the decision to express support and not explicitly demand a ceasefire was intentional. While Biden and top aides are concerned about the mounting bloodshed and loss of innocent life, the decision not to demand an immediate halt to hostilities reflects White House determination to support Israel's right to defend itself from Hamas, the official said, speaking on condition of anonymity to discuss the private deliberations.
Netanyahu told Israeli security officials late Monday that Israel would "continue to strike terror targets" in Gaza "as long as necessary in order to return calm and security to all Israeli citizens."
Meanwhile, ceasefire mediation by Egypt and others has shown little sign of progress. Overnight Monday, Egyptian officials contacted their Israeli counterparts with a request not to intensify the pace of attacks, reported Saudi Arabia-based newspaper Al Arabiya.
According to the report, Israel wants to paralyze Hamas' military capabilities in order to enter ceasefire talks from a better position. An Egyptian delegation was expected to arrive in Tel Aviv to advance the talks.
Separately, the US blocked for a third time Monday what would have been a unanimous statement by the 15-nation UN Security Council expressing "grave concern" over the intensifying conflict and the loss of civilian lives. The final US rejection killed the Security Council statement, at least for now.
White House press secretary Jen Psaki and national security adviser Jake Sullivan said the United States was focusing instead on "quiet, intensive diplomacy."
US Secretary of State Antony Blinken, speaking in Denmark on the first stop of an unrelated tour of Nordic countries, said Monday the United States was ready to spring in to help if Israel and Hamas signal interest in ending hostilities, but that the US wasn't demanding that they do so.
"Ultimately it is up to the parties to make clear that they want to pursue a ceasefire," Blinken said.
Blinken defended the US handling of the decades-old Israeli-Palestinian conflict as America works to push for climate-accord deals, withdraw troops from Afghanistan, and turn US attention to what Biden sees as the nation's most pressing foreign policy priorities.
It's "a big world and we do have responsibilities," he said.
Senate Majority Leader Chuck Schumer on Monday joined dozens of Democratic lawmakers − and one Republican, and independent Sen. Bernie Sanders − in calling for the ceasefire by both sides. A prominent Democrat, Rep. Adam Schiff, the House intelligence committee chairman, pressed the US over the weekend to get more involved.
Progressive Democrats have been more outspoken in demanding pressure on Israel. Rep. Cori Bush, a Missouri Democrat, linked Palestinian issues to those of black Americans.
"We oppose our money going to fund militarized policing, occupation, and systems of violent oppression and trauma," Bush tweeted.
But Senate Minority Leader Mitch McConnell, R-Ky, took the Senate floor on Monday to assail lawmakers for including Israel in their demands for a ceasefire.
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"To say that both sides, both sides need to de-escalate downplays the responsibility terrorists have for initiating the conflict in the first place and suggests Israelis are not entitled to defend themselves against ongoing rocket barrages," McConnell said.
In a shot at Democrats, McConnell said, "The United States needs to stand foursquare behind our ally, and President Biden must remain strong against the growing voices within his own party that create a false equivalence between terrorist aggressors and a responsible state defending itself."
Sen. Rick Scott, R-Fla., led 19 Republican senators releasing a resolution supporting Israel's side of the fighting. They plan to try to introduce the legislation next week.
Blinken also said Monday he had asked Israel for any evidence for its claim that Hamas was operating in a Gaza office building housing The Associated Press and Al Jazeera news bureaus that was destroyed in an Israeli airstrike over the weekend. But he said that he personally had "not seen any information provided."
The IDF, which gave AP journalists and other tenants about an hour to evacuate, claimed Hamas used the building for a military intelligence office and weapons development. IDF spokesman Lt. Col. Jonathan Conricus said Israel was compiling evidence for the US but declined to commit to providing it within the next two days.
Netanyahu said Israel would share any evidence of Hamas' presence in the targeted building through intelligence channels.
The European Union said it would redouble its efforts to end the surge in violence and seek progress during a special meeting of its foreign ministers on Tuesday.
The EU also called the destruction of the building housing The Associated Press and other major international media "extremely worrying" and said safe working conditions for journalists were essential.
The EU has never had the impact that Washington can wield in the region and no immediate breakthrough was expected from Tuesday's meeting. Ever since the outbreak of violence last week, the EU has been calling for restraint and condemned attacks that hit civilian populations.
Individual member states also let their voices be heard.
France's President Emmanuel Macron and Egypt's President Abdel Fattah el-Sissi stressed the "absolute need" to cease hostilities. Macron reaffirmed France's support for the Egyptian mediation in the conflict.
Rome also looked ahead to Tuesday's meeting. Foreign Minister Luigi Di Maio said Italy had requested to discuss the Mideast violence and said: "The violence and attacks between Israel and Palestine must stop." In a Facebook post, he added that "the EU with its 27 member states must take a clear and unified position and work to press the parties to sit together again at the negotiation table."
As the EU's Middle East policies require unanimity among its 27 member nations, its actions and statements haven't had the impact that could be expected from a bloc of 450 million people that has large trade interests in the region.
