U.S. Secretary of State John Kerry arrived in Tel Aviv on Wednesday to seek ways of ending the deadliest violence in years between Israel and Gaza's Islamist Hamas, Reuters reported.
"Secretary Kerry arrived in Tel Aviv, Israel, this morning to meet with officials to discuss the ongoing ceasefire efforts," State Department spokeswoman Jen Psaki said.
"He will also travel to Jerusalem and the West Bank, and will be meeting with U.N. Secretary General Ban Ki-moon, Palestinian Authority President [Mahmoud] Abbas and Israeli Prime Minister [Benjamin] Netanyahu."
Following the discovery of corpses of three abducted Jewish teenagers on July 12 in the West Bank of the Jordan River, the Israeli government accused the Islamic Resistance Movement, Hamas.
Israeli officials, including Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu, said that new military operations would be launched in the Gaza Strip in revenge on Hamas for the killing of the teenagers.
Earlier on July 2, the 17-year-old Muhammed Abu Khudair was kidnapped and killed in Jerusalem, which led to rocket strikes on Israeli cities from the Gaza Strip.
Then on July 8, Israel announced the beginning of a military operation dubbed "Protective Edge" in the Gaza Strip.