A car-ramming incident also took place in the Sheikh Jarrah neighbourhood of East Jerusalem on Sunday evening. An Israeli police spokesman said the driver had been shot dead and four Israeli officers injured.

The threat to evict Palestinian families from Sheikh Jarrah to make way for Israeli settlers sparked the current round of violence between Israel and the Palestinians.

Those tensions culminated in clashes at a holy site revered by both Muslims and Jews, and, on Monday, Hamas began firing rockets after warning Israel to withdraw from the site, triggering retaliatory airstrikes.

By Paul Adams, the BBC diplomatic correspondent

Is Israel’s military operation in Gaza, dubbed “Guardian of the Walls”, nearing its conclusion?

Not obviously. Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu said the attacks are continuing with “full force” and will “take time”.

In a news conference on Sunday, he admitted there were “pressures” but thanked US President Joe Biden, in particular, for his support.

Mr Biden’s envoy, Hady Amr, has been in Israel since Friday, discussing the crisis with Israeli officials.

Since the US, like Israel and many other countries, regards Hamas as a terrorist organisation, Mr Amr will not be meeting one of the two warring parties.

Any messages for Hamas will have to go through traditional interlocutors, such as Egypt or Qatar.

Local reports suggest Hamas has been offering some kind of ceasefire for several days, only to be rebuffed by Israel, which clearly wants to inflict as much damage as it can on the militants before the fighting is finally brought to a close.

These episodes follow a familiar pattern: Israel presses home its undoubted military advantage until the international outcry over civilian casualties, and a deteriorating humanitarian situation in Gaza, demand that the operation end.

In Israel’s estimation, we have not reached that point yet.

What happened during the UN meeting?

The 15-member UN Security Council has been unable to agree on a public statement in recent days and none was forthcoming after the meeting.

The United States – a strong ally of Israel – is said to be the hold-out, believing it would be unhelpful in the diplomatic process.

In Sunday’s meeting, US Ambassador Linda Thomas-Greenfield said the US was ready to offer support “should the parties seek a ceasefire” and had been working tirelessly to try to bring an end to the conflict.

Palestinian Foreign Minister, Riyad al-Maliki, spoke of Saturday’s attack on a refugee camp, which killed 10 members of the same family, leaving a five-month-old survivor to be pulled from the rubble. “Israel often asks us to put ourselves in their shoes,” he said, “but they are not wearing shoes. They’re wearing military boots.”

In response, Israel’s Permanent Representative, Gilad Erdan, cited the death of a 10-year-old Arab-Israeli girl, killed by a Hamas rocket. He insisted Israel was mounting what he called “a heroic effort” to “dismantle terrorist infrastructure and avoid civilian casualties”.

Mr Erdan ended by urging the Security Council to unequivocally condemn Hamas but warned that Israel would take all steps necessary to protect itself.