The US Secretary of State John Kerry has told reporters he has spent 29 years in the US Senate and has a '100% voting record' that is pro-Israel. He says he will not take a second seat to anybody in his friendship and devotion to the protection of the State of Israel.
It comes as Israel has stepped up its military campaign in Gaza - where more than 100 Palestinians have been killed alone today and the territory's only power plant has been destroyed.
Warplanes and tanks have pounded dozens of targets in the Gaza Strip, a day after Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu warned of a "prolonged campaign" against Hamas.
Palestinian health officials said the latest fatalities include ten members of the same family who were killed during an Israeli airstrike.
Israel's Channel Two television reported earlier that Hamas and Israel had agreed to a ceasefire, -but it later retracted that claim.
Kerry: My voting record is 100% pro-Israel | Image: UN Photo/Jean-Marc Ferré
The total Palestinian death toll now stands at more than 1,150. Israel has lost 53 soldiers, along with two civilians and a Thai national.
Israel started its aerial offensive against Gaza on July 8th, declaring its aim was to halt rockets fired by Hamas and its allies into Israel.
It launched a ground invasion shortly afterwards, primarily aimed at destroying a network of cross-border tunnels which Hamas is accused of using to infiltrate Israel.
The US has reiterated that it supports Israel's right to defend itself, but is working towards deescalating the conflict.
Mr Kerry told reporters he would "embrace a ceasefire that permits Israel to protect itself against the tunnels". But he says it is better to try and solve the conflict between Israel and Hamas in Gaza by negotiating a ceasefire.
Earlier on Tuesday a senior official of the Palestine Liberation Organisation (PLO) said the Palestinian leadership, along with Hamas and the smaller Islamic Jihad group, were willing to observe a humanitarian truce of 24 hours.
But the statement was contradicted by a Hamas spokesman in Gaza who said the PLO official was not speaking on behalf of the group. Israel rejected the offer saying that until it heard from Hamas directly it was "not serious".
The proposal came after the fuel depot at Gaza's only power plant was practically destroyed on Tuesday morning, potentially cutting electricity to the enclave's 1.8 million residents and causing further disruption to the water supply.
The power plant supplies two thirds of the territory's energy needs and was engulfed in flames sending a column of black smoke into the air.
According to a spokesman for Gaza's electricity distribution company, the power plant was hit by shells fired from an Israeli tank, a claim which could not be verified.
An Israeli military spokeswoman had no immediate comment and said she was checking the report.
The power station was hit last week and had been operating on a reduced capacity providing only a few hours of electricity per day to Gaza's residents.
"The power plant is finished" said its director, Mohammed al-Sharif, who added the local fire brigade was not equipped to extinguish the blaze.
Other symbols of Hamas government control, including the headquarters of the Hamas satellite TV station Al Aqsa and Al Aqsa radio were also targeted.
Hamas said that despite the attack the stations continued to broadcast.
The home of Hamas leader Ismail Haniyeh was also hit by a missile early this morning causing damage but no casualties, Gaza's Interior Ministry said.
Iran's supreme leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei on Tuesday accused Israel of committing "genocide" in Gaza and called on the Islamic world to arm Palestinians fighting "the Zionist regime".
Sinn Fein President Gerry Adams has been speaking to Palestinian negotiator Saeb Erekat. He told Newstalk Lunchtime earlier that Ireland should play a bigger role in trying to end the crisis.
Originally posted 06:47
