Biden urges ‘significant de-escalation’ in Netanyahu call

An Israeli artillery unit fires towards targets in the Gaza Strip (Tsafrir Abayov/AP)

US President Joe Biden has called for “significant de-escalation” from Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu after 10 days of heavy fighting between Israelis and Palestinians.

It was Mr Biden’s toughest public pressure so far on the US ally, with the president asking Mr Netanyahu in a telephone call to move towards “the path to a ceasefire”, according to a White House statement on their conversation.