The United States blocked a UAE-backed demand for a ceasefire on Friday as fighting further intensified inside Gaza.
Washington vetoed a vote on a UN Security Council resolution, submitted by Abu Dhabi and backed by Arab leaders pushing to halt the invasion.
“The undeniable reality is if Israel laid down its arms today, Hamas would continue to hold hostages,” Robert Wood, the US deputy ambassador to the UN, said ahead of the vote.
“That is not a threat that any of our governments would continue to allow,” he added.
It comes as the US has increased its pressure on Israel to avoid human casualties, and Lord Cameron, the British Foreign Secretary, said that the county “must behave differently” in southern Gaza.
Israel almost doubled its air strikes on the Gaza Strip on Friday, as observers predicted the military operation to destroy Hamas may be “peaking”.