After arriving in Cairo late Monday to hold crisis talks on the Gaza conflict, Secretary Kerry called Israel's military offensive "appropriate and legitimate," while at the same time expressing concern for the safety of civilians, who have borne the brunt of the violence.

"We are deeply concerned about the consequences of Israel's appropriate and legitimate effort to defend itself," Kerry said during a meeting with UN Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon in the Egyptian capital. "No country can stand by when rockets are attacking it."

"But always, in any kind of conflict, there is a concern about civilians - about children, women, communities that are caught in it," the US top diplomat said.

Kerry pledged $47 million (34 million euros) in humanitarian aid for Gaza's besieged civilian population. That sum includes $15 million for the UN's Palestinian refugee agency and $32 million from the US Agency for International Development (USAID) to meet the emergency needs of Gazans.

More than 500 Palestinians have been killed in Israel's air and ground offensive against the Gaza Strip, a densely populated enclave of 1.7 million people. Most of the dead are civilians, including almost 100 children, according to Gaza health officials. More than 100,000 Palestinians have been forced to flee their homes, according to the UN.

Meanwhile, Israel says that it has lost 25 soldiers and two civilians in the conflict.

Push for a ceasefire

Secretary Kerry traveled to Cairo to push for a ceasefire in Gaza. He is scheduled to meet on Tuesday with Egypt's leadership, including President Abdel Fatah el-Sissi.

"The objective here is to get the fastest possible ceasefire," a senior US official traveling with Kerry said on the condition of anonymity. "That doesn't mean that it's going to be fast, and it certainly doesn't mean it's going to be easy, but that's the goal."

Earlier in the month, Egypt proposed a ceasefire in Gaza, which Israel accepted. But Hamas - the dominant political force in the Palestinian enclave - rejected the agreement, saying that it had not been consulted.

Hamas has conditioned a ceasefire on Israel lifting its seven-year-old blockade of the Gaza Strip and the release of hundreds of Palestinians detained during the search for three Israeli teenagers in June.

slk/lw (AFP, Reuters)