Washington will send senior diplomat Hady Amr to Israel to help de-escalate the fighting with Palestinian militant group Hamas.
"I've asked Deputy Assistant Secretary of State Hady Amr to go to the region immediately to meet with Israeli and Palestinian leaders," US Secretary of State Antony Blinken said.
Calling on Israelis, Palestinians and regional partners to push for de-escalation, he said: "We are deeply engaged across the board.
“Israel has the right to defend itself and Palestinians have a right to live in safety and security … [the] most important thing is for all sides to cease the violence,” he said.
"Israel has an extra burden in trying to do everything it possibly can to avoid civilian casualties even as it is rightfully responding in defence of its people."
US sources told The National Mr Amr's trip had initially been planned for next week but was moved to Wednesday due to the fighting.
Mr Blinken also spoke with Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu on Wednesday.
In a statement, the US State Department said the two "discussed the ongoing violence in Jerusalem, and the Secretary reiterated his call on all parties to deescalate tensions and bring a halt to the violence."
President Joe Biden's administration is leaning on Egypt and Jordan to help broker a truce before Eid on Thursday, sources said.
But those hopes have dimmed amid an intense exchange of air strikes and rocket attacks between Israel and Hamas. At least 56 Palestinians and six Israelis have been killed.
Separately, US Defence Secretary Lloyd Austin spoke with his Israeli counterpart Benny Gantz on Wednesday and conveyed Washington’s "ironclad support for Israel's legitimate right to defend itself.”
He “strongly condemned the launching of rockets by Hamas and other terrorists groups that targeted Israeli civilians” and “reiterated the importance of all involved parties to take steps to restore calm,” a statement by the Pentagon read.
Former US envoy to the region and senior fellow at the Council on Foreign Relations, Martin Indyk called Mr Amr’s trip “necessary and important”.
"It is a sign of engagement by the Biden administration. Mr Amr cannot be a mediator at this stage in the conflict but he can engage with both sides and advise Washington on possible ways to end the fighting," he told The National.
Sarah Yerkes of the Carnegie Endowment for International Peace said Mr Amr’s trip is welcome news but Washington alone can’t bring about a breakthrough.
"It is a good move by the US to send Hady Amr, who has a history of working with both sides during the Obama administration," Ms Yerkes, a former State Department official, told The National.
Mr Amr served as deputy special envoy for Israeli-Palestinian negotiations during former president Barack Obama's second term.
His trip comes amid criticism over the Biden administration's slow reaction to the crisis.
Late on Wednesday, Mr Biden, in his first comments on the crisis, told reporters that he spoke with Mr Netanyahu and hoped for an end to the fighting "sooner than later."
“The US had been rightly criticised for their tepid response to the escalating crisis and getting their hands in this, through Mr Amr as a mediator, shows both sides that Washington is paying attention and not sitting on the sidelines,” Ms Yerkes said.
But she described US leverage as constrained, given that it has no direct channel to Hamas.
“There is not likely much Mr Amr will be able to bring to the table. Hamas has very little to lose by continuing their aggression and the US is not likely to abandon its support for Israel,” Ms Yerkes said.
Washington has been pressuring Cairo to help arrange a ceasefire. On Tuesday, the White House said that National Security Adviser Jake Sullivan had spoken with his Egyptian counterpart, Abbas Kamel.
But a quick end to the fighting before Eid is unrealistic, diplomatic sources said, given the intensity of the fighting, now at its worst level in seven years.
-
Israeli artillery in action as the escalation continues between the Israeli army and Hamas at the Gaza Border. EPA -
Mourners attend the funeral of Palestinian Rashid Abu Ara, 16, who was killed during clashes with Israeli troops in village of Aqaba near Nablus, north of the West Bank. AFP -
A heavily damaged house in a residential area in the city of Yehud, in central Israel. AFP -
Parents of Palestinian man Abdulsalam Al-Ghazali, who was killed amid a flare-up of Israeli-Palestinian violence, react during their son funeral in Gaza City. Reuters -
Residents look at a car that was hit in an Israeli air strike, on the main road in Gaza City. Three people who were in the vehicle died. AP -
Palestinians mourn the death of relatives outside a hospital in Beit Lahia following a series of Israeli air strikes on the Hamas-controlled Gaza Strip. AFP -
Israeli Arabs treat a sheep that was wounded by a rocket fired from the Gaza Strip, where nearby a father and his daughter were killed, in the village of Dahmash near the Israeli city of Lod. AP -
An injured man receives treatment at the scene after a rocket launched from the Gaza strip struck in Giv'atayim, Israel. Getty -
A man looks at the damage in the aftermath of overnight Israeli air strikes on Gaza. EPA -
A Jewish man at a burnt-out synagogue after overnight riots between Arab and Jewish residents in Lod, Israel. EPA -
Relatives of Palestinian Rashid Abu Arra, 16, who was killed during clashes with Israeli troops in the village of Aqqaba near Nablus at the hospital morgue in Tubas in the occupied West Bank. AFP -
Rubble from the Hanadi tower after an Israeli air strike on Gaza City. EPA -
Israeli security forces pass burnt-out vehicles in Holon near Tel Aviv. AFP -
A huge crater in Gaza City caused by the Israeli air strikes. AFP -
A broken mannequin near a tower building in Gaza City that was hit by Israeli air strikes during the flare-up of Israeli-Palestinian violence. Reuters -
Fires at sunrise in Khan Yunish after an Israeli air strike on targets in the southern Gaza strip. AFP -
Palestinian rescuers move an elderly woman from a building in Gaza City after Israeli air strikes in the area. AP Photo -
Palestinians evacuate after their tower building was hit by Israeli air strikes, in Gaza City. Reuters -
The remains of a rocket, destroyed by Israel's Iron Dome aerial defence system, which was fired by the Palestinian Islamist group Hamas from the Gaza strip. AFP -
An Iron Dome aerial defence system battery is seen in the foreground as fire rages at Ashkelon's refinery, which was hit by Hamas rockets the previous day, in the southern Israeli city. AFP -
Palestinians stand next to the remains of a tower building which was destroyed in Israeli air strikes, in Gaza City. Reuters -
A Palestinian man holds an injured girl awaiting medical care at al-Shifa hospital, after an Israeli air strike in Gaza city. AFP -
People take shelter in the basement of a building in the Israeli city of Tel Aviv as alarm sirens wailed after 3:00 a.m. after rockets were launched towards Israel from the Gaza Strip. AFP -
Israeli border police vehicles drive past an extinguished burnt vehicle in Lod near Tel Aviv, after rockets were launched towards Israel from the Gaza Strip controlled by the Palestinian Hamas movement. AFP -
An Israeli police officer gestures to a Palestinian woman and her daughter, frightened by clashes outside of the Damascus Gate to the Old City of Jerusalem. AP Photo -
Israeli firefighters walk by a car with a fallen tree on it after it was hit by a rocket fired from Gaza towards Holon, Israel. Reuters -
Palestinians inspect a destroyed Hanadi tower after Israeli airstrike in Gaza City. EPA -
Arab Israelis gesture and wave Palestinian flags during the funeral of Mousa Hassouna in the central Israeli city of Lod near Tel Aviv. Hassouna was killed during clashes with Israeli security following an anti-Israel demonstration over tensions in Jerusalem. AFP -
Rescuers rush to help among the rubble in front of Al Sharouk tower, that collapsed after being hit by an Israeli air strike, in Gaza city on Wednesday. AFP -
Palestinians view the smouldering remains of Al Sharouk tower, which collapsed after being hit by an Israeli air strike. AFP -
Smoke and flames rise from Al Sharouk tower, as it collapses after being hit by an Israeli air strike in Gaza City. AFP -
Al Sharouk tower block collapses after being hit by an Israeli air strike. AFP -
A man peers out to survey destroyed buildings in Gaza city, following Israeli air strikes. AFP -
A plume of black smoke rises into the air in Khan Yunis, in the southern Gaza Strip, following an Israeli air strike on the area, which is controlled by the militant Hamas movement. AFP -
Parts of a broken mannequin lie scattered near a building that was hit by Israeli air strikes in Gaza city. Reuters -
A Palestinian woman mourns her son Rasheed Abu Arra, who was killed during confrontations with Israeli forces, at his funeral in the village of Aqaba, near the West Bank town of Tubas. AP Photo -
Women mourn at the funeral of Palestinian Rasheed Abu Arra, who was killed during confrontations with Israeli forces, in the town of Aqaba, near Tubas, in the West Bank. Reuters -
Israel's Iron Dome air defence system intercepts a rocket launched from the Gaza Strip, above the southern Israeli city of Ashdod. AFP
