US President Barack Obama has telephoned Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu to voice concerns about the crisis in Gaza amid an Israeli ground offensive.
Obama said on Friday that while the US supports Israel's right to defend itself, "the United States and our friends and allies are deeply concerned about the risks of further escalation and the loss of more innocent life".
Israeli troops launched an offensive on the Gaza periphery aimed at destroying Hamas's network of cross-border tunnels on the 11th day of an assault in which 274 Palestinians, including many children, have been killed.
"Although we support military efforts by the Israelis to make sure that rockets are not being fired into their territory, we also have said that our understanding is the current military ground operations are designed to deal with the tunnels," Obama told reporters.
The US commander-in-chief added that Washington was "hopeful that Israel will continue to approach this process in a way that minimises civilian casualties".
At least 1920 Palestinians have also been wounded since the launch of the assault.
Since the Israeli operation began, more than 1207 rockets fired from Gaza have struck Israel, and another 333 have been shot down by the country's Iron Dome air defence system, Israeli army figures show.
"All of us are working hard to return to the ceasefire that was reached in November of 2012," Obama said.
He added that Secretary of State John Kerry "is working to support Egypt's initiative to pursue that outcome. I told Prime Minister Netanyahu that John is prepared to travel to the region following additional consultations".
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