Kerry Arrives in Cairo to Push for 'Immediate' Gaza Ceasefire

U.S. Secretary of State John Kerry arrived in Cairo on Monday to throw his weight behind efforts to secure a ceasefire in neighboring Gaza.

Kerry will meet U.N. Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon who is also in Cairo for talks with Egyptian officials aimed at ending the two-week conflict between Israel and Gaza militants.

The top U.S. diplomat is to push for an "immediate" ceasefire in Gaza, President Barack Obama said earlier on Monday.

Obama also said that while Israel has the right to "defend itself" against a barrage of Hamas rockets, Washington has "serious concerns about the rising number of Palestinian civilian deaths and the loss of Israeli lives."

"That is why it now has to be our focus and the focus of the international community to bring about a ceasefire that ends the fighting and that can stop the deaths of innocent civilians, both in Gaza and in Israel," he said.

The two-week conflict has dramatically escalated in recent days, with Israeli ground forces pushing into Gaza, where the Palestinian death toll stood at 572 as of late Monday.

Obama noted that Israel had "already done significant damage to Hamas' terrorist infrastructure in Gaza."

Eighteen Israeli soldiers have also died, the army's worst death toll in years.

"The work will not be easy," Obama said of efforts to broker a ceasefire.

"Obviously, there are enormous passions involved in this, and some very difficult strategic issues involved," the president added, in a statement delivered from the White House.

"Nevertheless, I've asked John to do everything he can to help facilitate a cessation to hostilities. We don't want to see any more civilians getting killed."

Later on Monday, the White House said Israel must do more to protect civilians caught up in the crossfire of its assault on Hamas in the Gaza Strip.

"We would like the Israelis to take even greater steps to ensure the protection of civilians," spokesman Josh Earnest told reporters.