The UN Security Council has called for an immediate ceasefire in Gaza - as an escalation in violence saw the Palestinian death toll climb above 500.

US President Barack Obama repeated the call in a phone conversation with Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu this morning.

Meanwhile, the US Secretary of State John Kerry is due in Cairo today to push for a ceasefire between Israel and Hamas.

Overnight, it emerged that 2 of the 13 Israeli soldiers killed in combat yesterday were American.

It came as Israel denied claims by Hamas that it had captured an Israeli soldier alive.

Jonathan Miller is Channel Four News Foreign Affairs Correspondent in Gaza;