Israeli Assault Will Continue ‘as Long as Needed,’ Netanyahu Says

Mediation efforts

Hady Amr, the U.S. deputy assistant secretary of state for Israel and Palestinian affairs, is in Israel and is set to meet with Israeli leaders Sunday, then with Palestinian officials in the West Bank to find a “sustainable calm,” the State Department said.

Also Sunday, UN Secretary-General Antonio Guterres is addressing the U.N. Security Council to discuss the situation.

"The Secretary-General is dismayed by the increasing number of civilian casualties, including the death of 10 members of the same family, including children, as a result of an Israeli airstrike last night in the al-Shati camp in Gaza, purportedly aimed at a Hamas leader," his spokesperson, Stephane Dujarric, said in the statement.

"The Secretary-General reminds all sides that any indiscriminate targeting of civilian and media structures violates international law and must be avoided at all costs," he said.

Neither Israel nor Hamas indicated that an end to the worst violence between Israel and Palestinian militants since 2014 was in sight.

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It began Monday, sparked by growing unrest over control of Jerusalem and attempts by Jewish settlers to take over Arab-controlled communities.

Speaking to crowds of protesters in the Qatari capital of Doha, Hamas chief Ismail Haniyeh said Saturday the fighting was primarily about Jerusalem.

"The Zionists thought ... they could demolish Al-Aqsa Mosque. They thought they could displace our people in Sheikh Jarrah," Haniyeh said, according to the Associated Press.