Far-right hawk Reuven Rivlin was sworn in as Israel's 10th president on Thursday at a formal ceremony in parliament which saw elder statesman Shimon Peres stepping down.

"In prayer, in awe and humility, on your behalf and at your command, I come to faithfully fulfill my role as 10th president of the state of Israel," he said, a skullcap on his head and his left hand resting on a copy of the Old Testament.

As diplomatic efforts to end the Gaza bloodshed gain pace, Israel may have managed to weaken Hamas' firepower, but it is far from achieving a full demilitarization of the Palestinian enclave, experts say.

After 17 days of an unrelenting offensive against Hamas in Gaza, Israel is facing a race against time to complete their stated mission of destroying the tunnels which allow Hamas fighters to reach Israeli territory.

Pakistan on Thursday called for an immediate end to the blockade of Gaza to allow humanitarian relief to reach Palestinians as the death toll in the besieged territory rose to more than 740.

The appeal came a day after Pakistan voted along with other U.N. Human Rights Council members to launch a probe into Israel's offensive in the territory, with rights chief Navi Pillay saying Israel's military actions could amount to war crimes.

The U.S. national aviation authority lifted a ban on American flights to Israel late Wednesday, but warned of a "very fluid situation" amid intense fighting in the Gaza Strip.

After a rocket fired by Hamas militants in the Gaza Strip struck a house just north of Israel's main airport in Tel Aviv, the Federal Administration Agency imposed the ban on Tuesday and then renewed it midday Wednesday.

Britain is "gravely concerned" by the high number of civilian casualties resulting from Israel's military operation in Gaza, Foreign Secretary Philip Hammond said on Thursday. 

Speaking on his first official visit to the region since taking over as Britain's top diplomat, Hammond said London would do everything it could to help broker a quick end to the hostilities which have so far claimed the lives of more than 740 Palestinians in Gaza, 34 Israelis, mainly soldiers, and a Thai worker. 

U.N. humanitarian chief Valerie Amos expressed deep concern Thursday about the mounting civilian casualties in Gaza, warning that it was "almost impossible" for Palestinians to shelter from Israeli airstrikes.

U.S. Secretary of State John Kerry spoke Thursday to his counterparts in Qatar and Turkey, which support the Palestinian Islamist group Hamas, as he pressed for a Gaza ceasefire.

Kerry -- who is in Egypt, which has drafted a truce proposal for the Israel-Hamas conflict -- spoke by phone with the foreign ministers of Qatar and Turkey, a U.S. official said.

Thailand on Thursday urged Israel to relocate 4,000 Thai nationals working near the battle-scarred Gaza strip after one of its citizens was killed.

Israeli police said a farm laborer, Narakorn Kittiyongkul, died on Wednesday when a projectile fired from Gaza struck the greenhouse where he was working in the southern part of the country.

Outgoing United Nations Interim Force in Lebanon Commander Major General Paolo Serra said on Thursday that despite the challenges and the sporadic incidents in the South “unprecedented stability was achieved during the past eight years.”

“Both sides (Israel and Lebanon) continue their commitment to the cessation of hostilities even though challenges still remain,” Serra said in an interview with As Safir newspaper at the end of his term.

Foreign Minister Jebran Bassil made a series of contacts with Lebanon's ambassadors to the United Nations, Switzerland, and Belgium in order to condemn the Israeli campaign against the Gaza Strip, reported As Safir newspaper on Thursday.

The minister is seeking the preparation of a legal study that will be sent to the concerned international bodies to condemn Israel for its crimes in Gaza, explained the daily.