There is no sign of a let-up in fighting in and around the Gaza Strip as international pressure for a ceasefire to end 16 days of fighting builds.
Hamas has rejected ceasefire proposals without accompanying talks on lifting years of blockade against the Palestinian enclave.
Meanwhile, the death toll is rising.
After more than two weeks of fighting, Hamas chief Khaled Meshaal has made his first statements from Doha.
He flatly rejected proposals for a ceasefire with Israel without negotiations on key Hamas demands.
"Everyone wanted us to accept a ceasefire quickly. But then what? They say we should then negotiate our demands. We reject this idea. We rejected it on the first day, and we reject it again today. To those who want to bide their time, know that we will also reject it in the future."
Egypt, whose President Abdel Fattah al-Sisi has sought to isolate the militant Palestinian movement in neighbouring Gaza, had tried to broker a truce between Israel and Hamas.
But Hamas argues Egypt's proposal, backed by the United States, the United Nations and the Arab League, would let Israel dictate if and when to ease its blockade on Gaza.
Mr Meshaal wants the eight-year Gaza blockade lifted, an opening of the Rafah border crossing with Egypt and the release of Palestinian prisoners.
His remarks came as US Secretary of State John Kerry jetted into Israel to meet Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas, UN Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon and Israel's Prime Minister Binyamin Netanyahu.
John Kerry reported some progress in negotiations.
"We have certainly made some steps forward. There's still work to be done. But I'm very appreciative. The Secretary-General's making great efforts. The UN is wholeheartedly in this effort to try to see if we can advance not just a ceasefire but a sustainable process of going forward, which is very important."
Meanwhile, emergency services in Gaza are struggling to keep pace with the conflict.
Workers have been battling raging fires and a relentless train of wounded Palestinians.
Deadly airstrikes in coastal areas of Gaza and other skirmishes across the area have pushed the death toll still higher.
The bombed-out remains of vehicles are smouldering in Gaza streets as Palestinian fire crews rush to douse their charred shells and clear the scene.
This emergency-department doctor at Gaza's Kamal Adwan Hospital gives insight into the carnage medical teams are witnessing.
"We've just received three bodies that arrived in pieces as a result of an aerial strike which led to the death of two young men in their 20s and a four-month-old girl who died from shrapnel wounds which killed her on the spot. Medical units could not save their lives."
The UN Human Rights Council has adopted a resolution condemning the Israeli offensive in Gaza.
Twenty-nine of the 47 members of the council voted to support the motion, with just the United States voting against it.
The council says it will also launch an inquiry into alleged human-rights violations in the conflict.
And UN human-rights chief Navi Pillay castigated both sides over the violence.
"A seven-year-old Palestinian child in Gaza has never known life outside occupation and is already living through her or his third experience of a major Israeli military operation, including the so-called operations 'Cast Lead' in 2009 and 'Pillar of Defence' in 2012, with all the unimaginable death, destruction, terror and the life-long consequences that they inflicted. Both Palestinians and Israelis deserve better than a life of chronic insecurity and recurring escalation in hostilities."
Israeli diplomat Eviatar Manor has told Al Jazeera that Israel, for its part, is complying with international law.
"We have two main objections. First one is this whole idea of this special session. It's a sham. We are rewarding the aggressor, Hamas, and we are punishing Israel, which is acting in self-defence. And my second objection is that Israel and the Israeli army comply fully with international humanitarian law."
Hamas says much the same, arguing it is the victim of Israeli aggression.
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