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US Secretary of State John Kerry said on Wednesday that diplomacy to end the Gaza bloodshed has made progress, but warned more time was needed.
“We have certainly made some steps forward, but there is still work to be done,” Kerry said in Jerusalem as he started a meeting with UN Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon.
Kerry flew into Tel Aviv from Cairo on Wednesday – despite US warnings over airline safety after a Hamas rocket landed near Ben Gurion airport – as global concerns mount over rising body count in the 16-day conflict in Gaza.
Kerry, who declined to elabourate further on the shape of diplomatic efforts, is due to meet later Wednesday with Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu and Palestinian president Mahmud Abbas.
Aides said Kerry, who has been holding talks in Cairo since Monday, had spoken late into the night with regional diplomats.
Ban, who is on his own regional tour and met Kerry in Cairo on Monday, also voiced guarded hope for ending the violence.
“We are now joining our forces in strength to make a ceasefire as soon as possible, but there is still some detailed way which we have to make,” he said.
“We do not have much time to wait and lose,” added Ban, who said he had spoke during the morning with Netanyahu.
Gaza's Beit Lahiya hospital flooded with victims after shelling

Washington’s top diplomat flew into Tel Aviv , defying a US flight ban, to try to broker an end to violence in Gaza, which has killed hundreds and hobbled Israel’s main airport.
Secretary of State John Kerry jetted in from Cairo to Ben Gurion airport, with reporters banned from reporting the trip until his custom Boeing 757 touched down.
He immediately set off for Jerusalem where he was to meet visiting UN chief Ban Ki-moon, after which he was to travel to the West Bank city of Ramallah for talks with Palestinian leader Mahmud Abbas, a State Department official said.
He was later to return to Tel Aviv for talks at the defence ministry with Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu, the official said, adding that Kerry had been engaged in phonecalls with regional foreign ministers until the early hours of Wednesday.
Washington’s top diplomat has urged all sides to embrace an Egyptian ceasefire initiative that would first halt the fighting before negotiations.
The truce was accepted by Israel but rejected by Hamas, the de facto power in Gaza, which has laid down a series of conditions, including a removal of Israel’s eight-year blockade on the enclave.
The United States has repeatedly supported Israel’s Operation Protective Edge as self-defence as Hamas showers its ally with rockets.
But President Barack Obama and Kerry have also voiced growing concerns about the costs to civilians, including the deaths of numerous Palestinian children.
Kerry, who has invested much of his tenure into an unsuccessful bid to reach a permanent Israeli-Palestinian peace agreement, has backed the Egyptian truce proposal but is looking for ways to find the quickest possible end to the violence.
“While we still have work to do, it is clear to each party I met that there is a framework available to end the violence, and that framework was the Egyptian initiative,” Kerry said Tuesday in Cairo after meeting Egypt’s President Abdel Fattah al-Sisi, a former army chief who has a frosty relationship with Hamas.
Kerry has walked a delicate line, with a US official saying that the Egyptian plan offered “the frame and forum for discussions” but that “there are a range of options under consideration for a ceasefire.”
Kerry, in an unguarded moment caught Sunday between televised interviews, appeared to voice concern that Israel would escalate its campaign after soldiers’ deaths, saying, “I hope they don’t think that’s an invitation to go do more.”
Kerry’s arrival in Israel came a day after the US Federal Aviation Administration banned US carriers from flying into Tel Aviv for 24 hours following a Hamas rocket that landed close to Ben Gurion airport.
Netanyahu appealed to Kerry by telephone late Tuesday to lift the ban, which is the first since the 1990-1991 Iraq war when Saddam Hussein’s regime lobbed missiles at Israel.
Kerry insisted it was imposed solely in the interest of protecting US carriers and travellers, not as a negotiating tactic.
“The only consideration in issuing the notice was the safety and security of our citizens,” State Department spokeswoman Jen Psaki said.
Major US and European carriers suspended their services after the rocket struck.
A prolonged airport closure would likely pose risks to Israel’s economy, which has largely been spared the impact of frequent conflict in the region.


Kerry arrives in Israel, makes ‘some steps forward’ in ending Gaza conflict

John Kerry meets with Ban Ki-moon in Jerusalem. Photo: Reuters

Heavy toll of Gaza ground invasion tests resolve of Israeli public

The soldiers' deaths have rocked public opinion. Photo: AP

The mother of Staff Sgt. Shachar Tase, one of 13 Israeli soldiers killed in several separate incidents in Shijaiyah, mourns over her son's grave. Photo: AP

Wounded Israeli soldiers are evacuated near the border with central Gaza Strip. Photo: Reuters

At least 15 Palestinians and two Israeli soldiers were killed overnight 23 July in the Gaza Strip. The Palestinian death toll on the 16th day of an Israeli offensive surpassed 640, Gaza Health Ministry spokesman Ashraf al-Qedra said Wednesday. More than 4,000 people have been injured. Twenty-nine Israeli soldiers have died during six nights and days of ground fighting, the military said.  EPA/JIM HOLLANDER

Gaza death toll tops 340 as UN chief heads to Middle East in peace effort

Palestinians prepare the graves for eight members from Abu Jarad family, including three children, who medics said were killed by an Israeli tank shell, at a cemetery in Gaza. Photo: Reuters

A destroyed house, which police said was targeted in an Israeli air strike, in Gaza City. Photo: Reuters

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UN Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon in Israel to double efforts to end Gaza bloodshed 


US Secretary of State John Kerry said on Wednesday that diplomacy to end the Gaza bloodshed has made progress, but warned more time was needed.


Kerry arrives in Israel, makes ‘some steps forward’ in ending Gaza conflict

.css-1c6uqr6{color:inherit;font-weight:inherit;font-size:inherit;font-family:inherit;line-height:inherit;overflow-wrap:break-word;}UN Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon in Israel to double efforts to end Gaza bloodshed

UN Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon in Israel to double efforts to end Gaza bloodshed