President Joe Biden warned Israel yesterday that he expected to see a “significant de-escalation” of violence in the Gaza Strip, as pressure mounted on the Jewish state to call a truce.

“The president conveyed to the prime minister (Israel’s Benjamin Netanyahu) that he expected a significant de-escalation today on the path to a ceasefire,” a White House spokesman said. It marks the first time Washington has publicly put pressure on Israel to end the fighting.

A source close to Mr Biden told the news website Axios that he was “done kidding around and Israel needs to finish it”.

Last night, there was no immediate sign of a lull in Gaza, with Hamas continuing to fire rockets at Israel, though the volume of rockets has fallen significantly since last week. In northern Israel, the army fired artillery at four sites it said were used to launch rockets from Lebanon towards Israel yesterday.

Mr Biden’s public admonishment came after Mr Netanyahu told foreign diplomats in Tel Aviv that he was prepared to “conquer” the Gaza Strip if rocket fire from Hamas continued.

“You can either conquer them, and that’s always an open possibility, or you can deter them,” Mr Netanyahu said. “We are engaged right now in forceful deterrence but I have to say, we are not ruling out anything.”

When asked how much longer the conflict would last, Mr Netanyahu implied that it could continue for several more weeks.

However, Israeli officials say they are assessing “when is the right moment for a ceasefire”.

Health officials in Gaza said that 217 Palestinians have been killed so far, including 63 children, and more than 1,400 have been injured. Israeli authorities say 12 people have been killed in Israel, including two children.

The conflict continues to take a heavy toll on Palestinian children, with many of them already suffering trauma from previous rounds of bombing over the past decade.

In some cases, Palestinians have been buried by rubble for several hours until rescued.

Israel insists it takes extreme care to avoid civilian casualties.

Human rights groups warned the conflict is deepening an already severe humanitarian crisis, with more than a dozen hospitals and clinics damaged by Israeli air strikes, including the territory’s only coronavirus testing laboratory.

According to Oxfam, a number of water wells and pumping stations have also been damaged by Israeli strikes, potentially jeopardising the Palestinians’ access to clean water.

Israel said more than 3,450 rockets had been launched at it from Gaza, some falling short and others shot down by its Iron Dome air defences. It put the number of militants killed at about 160.

James Cleverly, the British Middle East minister, said yesterday that London was supporting efforts to agree a ceasefire. “We are urging the parties to work with mediators towards an immediate ceasefire to prevent further loss of life and a worsening humanitarian situation,” he said.

France is also pushing for  a UN Security Council resolution. “The shooting must stop,” French President Emmanuel Macron said in a statement after speaking with the leaders of Egypt and Jordan, who he said were in agreement. “The time has come for a cease fire.”

Even as calls for a truce have widened, Israel has said it will not stop until it achieves its military objectives.

According to a senior Israeli military officer, Israel’s forces have destroyed more than 85km of underground tunnels and  80 rocket launchers and killed at least 130 militants.

He said Israel had a “factory of targets” that had been prepared for years in advance to be used when the “opportunity” arose. So far it had achieved many of its objectives, but he said there was “still work to do”.

“We are assessing whether the achievements are enough to bring the message to Hamas,” he said. “We can go more days, more weeks.”

Egyptian mediators have been leading cease fire negotiations between the two sides. Yesterday, Izzat al-Rishq, a member of Hamas’s political bureau, denied reports that a ceasefire agreement had been reached for 6pm today.