The administration of US President Joe Biden has renewed its call for de-escalation and reiterated its support for what it calls for Israel's "right to defend itself". 

On Tuesday, US State Department spokesperson Ned Price said Washington also believes that Palestinians have a right to security, after struggling to answer a question on whether Palestinians are also entitled to the right of self-defence a day earlier.

Below are Price's opening remarks from Tuesday's press briefing: 

"We are deeply concerned about the escalation between Israel and those launching rockets from Gaza, and we call for restraint and for calm. Israel has the right to defend itself and to respond to rocket attacks; the Palestinian people also have the right to safety and security, just as Israelis do. 

"We are also deeply concerned about the reported loss of life in Gaza and Israel, including the deaths of children, as well as many innocent civilians injured. Similarly in Jerusalem, where there reportedly have been hundreds of Palestinian injured, as well as Israeli police. 

"We call on all sides to exercise restraint and to exercise calm. United States will continue to remain engaged with senior Israeli officials and Palestinian leadership in the days and weeks ahead."

Hamas fired over 130 rockets towards Tel Aviv late on Tuesday after Israeli forces levelled a residential tower in the Gaza Strip, the Palestinian group said.

"The Qassam Brigade [Hamas's military wing] carried out a powerful attack against Tel Aviv and its suburb with 130 heavy rockets. And we tell the enemy: If you return, we will, too," Hamas said on its Telegram channel. 

Israeli witnesses and journalists had reported sounds of explosions and sirens in Tel Aviv.

Earlier on Friday, Israel destroyed a 12-story residential building in Gaza amid escalating violence.

The Israeli military said hundreds of Palestinian rockets fell on Tel Aviv late on Tuesday, accusing Hamas of targeting civilians. "We won't stand by and let this happen," the Israeli army said in a tweet.

Israeli forces have levelled a 12-story residential tower in Gaza to the ground.

Palestinian media outlets and Reuters cited witnesses as saying the tower was destroyed after an Israeli strike.

Activists shared photos and video footage purporting to show the enormous building collapsing. It is not clear if the building had been evacuated.

Gaza, home to nearly 2 million people, is one of the most densely populated areas in the region.

The Palestinian group Islamic Jihad vowed to target Tel Aviv with rockets after the tower was hit in Gaza.

"In response to the targeting of residential towers and civilians, your appointment with the resistance's rockets in the skies of Tel Aviv is at 9pm," a statement by Islamic Jihad spokesman Abu Hamza said, according to Reuters.

Israeli journalist Barak Ravid reported hearing sounds of explosions and sirens in Tel Aviv shortly before 9pm local time.

UN Secretary General Antonio Guterres has denounced the violence in Israel and the occupied Palestinian territories, saying the international body is "working with all relevant parties to de-escalate the situation urgently."

"He [Guterres] is deeply saddened to learn of increasingly large numbers of casualties, including children, from Israeli airstrikes in Gaza, and of Israeli fatalities from rockets launched from Gaza," spokesperson Stephane Dujarric said in a statement.

"The Secretary-General’s thoughts are with the families of the victims."

His comments come as Israel continued its air raids on Gaza on Tuesday, killing at least 28 poeple - including 10 children - since the bombing began on Monday, according to the Palestinian health ministry. Two Israelis were killed by Hamas rockets, according to Israeli reports.

Turkey has withdrawn an invitation extended to Israeli Energy Minister Yuval Steinitz for an international diplomacy conference hosted in Antalya in June following the recent attacks on Palestinians by Israeli security forces.

Turkish news agency Anadolu reported on Tuesday that the Turkish government decided to cancel the invitation due to “Israeli mistreatment to the Palestinians".

Had Steinitz decided to attend the event, it would have been the first such high-level visit to Turkey by an Israeli official in years.

Turkey withdraws invitation to Israeli energy minister over attacks on Palestinians

A photo shows the impact of an Israeli air strike on Al-Nafaq Street in Gaza City, which left a husband and wife dead and three of their children in hospital:

At least two people have been killed in Israeli air strikes in Gaza, according to local sources.

At least three others were injured in the Israeli attack, which took place on al-Nafaq Street in Gaza City.

Iyad Shrier and his wife Layali were killed in the strike while their four-year-old daughter Mena was left "clinically dead" after being transferred to al-Shifa hospital.

A second daughter, aged five, is in the ICU, while another is in emergency care.

The new strikes targeted at least 14 structures in the enclave

The Gaza health ministry said the death toll caused by Israeli strikes on the Gaza Strip had reached 28 since bombing began on Monday. The victims included 10 children. At least 152 people have been injured.

Middle East Eye's Editor-in-Chief David Hearst writes that Israel's crackdown on the Jerusalem protests could risk provoking a new major Palestinian uprising:

"There are three features that give this protest added potency, and that should cause alarm to the Israeli security establishment. The first is that as a direct result of the latest wave of normalisations with Israel, no Palestinian is under any illusion that an Arab state will come to even their rhetorical rescue.

"This was not the case in previous intifadas. There are no honest brokers any more. The Palestinians know they are well and truly on their own, and each can only rely on the resources available to them. 

"The second is that unlike previous uprisings, every Palestinian is involved. From 1948, Jerusalem, the West Bank, Gaza and the diaspora. The protests in al-Aqsa attract Christians as well as Muslims, secular as well as religious, nationalist as well as Islamist. They come from Haifa and Jaffa as well as Jerusalem."

Al-Aqsa attacks: How Israel is sowing the seeds of a new uprising

Israel has ordered the mobilisation of thousands of troops to be sent towards Gaza after at least 26 Palestinians were killed during its bombing of the besieged enclave.

The Israeli army said Defence Minister Benny Gantz had called in 5,000 troop reinforcements to “deepen home front defence”.

Israeli television news showed Israeli tanks massing near the fence with Gaza, as part of an operation Israel has called "Guardian of the Walls".

Israel mobilises thousands of troops towards Gaza as death toll mounts

Rockets fired by Palestinian armed group into southern Israel from Gaza killed two Israeli women, medical sources told reporters.

The two deaths occured in the southern Israeli city of Ashkelon, said Eli Bin, head of the Magen David Ambulance service, according to Reuters.

Another Israeli was seriously wounded while five more suffered light injuries.

Hamas and other groups in Gaza have fired hundreds of rockets into Israel in the past few days in response to an Israeli crackdown on Palestinian protesters in Jerusalem.

Israel's military chief has warned that the country should prepare for an "indefinite" operation in Gaza.

Chief of Staff Aviv Kochavi said the attacks on Gaza, which he said were currently targeting Hamas and Islamic Jihad facilities for weapon manufacture and storage, would be expanded to include different targets.

According to Haaretz, Kochavi said the Israeli army would strike "every Hamas or Islamic Jihad terrorist" wherever they may be.

The news site said Kochavi had ordered the Gaza Division to be reinforced, "including infantry and armoured brigades, alongside higher preparedness for air defence, intelligence and air force units."

Amnesty International and the Campaign Against the Arms Trade (CAAT) have slammed Israeli violence in Jerusalem and Gaza, with the latter calling for an end to arms sales to Israel.

In a statement Amnesty said Israel was using "abusive and wanton force against largely peaceful Palestinian protesters" in east Jerusalem.

The group described the police response to protests over the Sheikh Jarrah expulsions and the al-Aqsa Mosque as "disproportionate and unlawful", accusing security forces of "unprovoked attacks on peaceful demonstrators". 

CAAT also issued a statement calling on the UK government to end its sale of arms to Israel over the country's bombardment of the Gaza Strip.

"These terrible air strikes have further added to the many years of injustice and bloodshed. They must be met with condemnation, and action from the international community, particularly when following the increased tensions we have seen and the storming of such an important holy site," said CAAT spokesperson Dana Aboul-Jabine in a statement.

"Regardless of how many atrocities have been inflicted, Downing Street has continued to arm and support Israeli forces. UK-made arms have been used against Palestinians before, and it is likely that they will be again. These arms sales do not just provide military support, they also send a clear sign of political support for the daily abuse that is central to the occupation.

"Time and again, successive UK governments have put arms sales ahead of the rights and lives of Palestinians. That long and shameful policy must stop.”

At least two people, identified as Islamic Jihad commanders, have been killed in an Israeli air strike on Tuesday morning that struck a residential building in Gaza City’s Rimal neighbourhood, Maan news agency reported.

A third Islamic Jihad commander was severely injured, according to the Palestinian news agency.

At least five other civilians were injured and hospitalised.

Israel says it launched deadly air strikes on Gaza on Monday because of rockets fired at its cities by Hamas, but is the story really that simple?

Here’s what you need to know about what’s going on in Gaza, Jerusalem and Al-Aqsa:

The UN has said it is "deeply concerned" about the violence in Gaza, while the Arab League has issued a condemnation of the "indiscriminate and irresponsible" attacks by Israel on the Gaza Strip.

On Tuesday, Arab League chief Ahmed Aboul Gheit said that Israel was responsible for a "dangerous escalation" in Jerusalem, and called on the international community to act immediately to stop the violence.

The UN's rights office also on Tuesday criticised violence on all sides.

"We condemn all violence and all incitement to violence and ethnic division and provocations," spokesman for the UN High Commissioner for Human Rights Rupert Colville told reporters in Geneva.