US president Joe Biden said, “Israel has a right to defend itself when you have thousands of rockets flying into your territory.” Meanwhile, violence escalated in the Hamas-ruled Gaza Strip as relentless Israeli air raids and Palestinian rocket barrages continued killing innocents.

Biden: No peace until region recognizes Israel’s right to exist

“There is no shift in my commitment to the security of Israel. No shift. Period. What we still need is a two-state solution. It is the only answer,” he said.

Fierce clashes between the Israeli military and rocket squads in the Hamas-ruled Gaza Strip spurred a concerted diplomatic push to end the most serious fighting to convulse the area since a 2014 war.

“My expectation and hope are that this will be closing down sooner than later,” US president Joe Biden told reporters at the White House. “But Israel has a right to defend itself when you have thousands of rockets flying into your territory.”

The US dispatched an envoy to the region and Egypt and Qatar sought to help broker a truce as relentless Israeli air raids and Palestinian rocket barrages sent the death toll climbing through the night on Wednesday. More than 60 Palestinians have been reported killed in Gaza and at least six people in Israel since the violence abruptly exploded late Monday.