Kim Kyung-Hoon / Pool via EPA

China's President Xi Jinping, right, shakes hands with Israel's Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu at the Great Hall of the People in Beijing on May 9.

BEIJING – An official visit to Beijing by Israeli and Palestinian leaders last week has prompted speculation that China may finally be ready to claim its place as a world power by trying to negotiate an end to one of world's most caustic conflicts.

Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu and Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas met with Chinese President Xi Jinping within days of each other in Beijing – the two Middle Eastern leaders having arrived in the country within hours of each other.

"China's hosting of the two emphasized its active involvement in Mideast affairs and highlighted its role as a responsible power," declared an editorial by China's state news agency, Xinhua.

A more active role in Middle East diplomacy would be a dramatic break from China's long-held policy of non-intervention. With controversial business partners like Sudan, Libya and Iran, China has consistently ducked the political and regional strife of others to focus on natural resource extraction and trade.

To a long line of American leaders who have invested a great deal of political capital in the quest for peace in the region, a Chinese diplomatic shift could be a welcome development.

But some experts like Dan Blumenthal, director of Asian Studies at the American Enterprise Institute, wonder how much China is willing to risk entering this particular political game.

Feng Li / Getty Images

Chinese President Xi Jinping, left, gestures to invite Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas to a welcoming ceremony held outside the Great Hall of the People on May 6 in Beijing.

"Right now China has the benefit of free-riding on U.S. security [and its] presence, so there is no incentive for them whatsoever to actually pay costs and take risks," Blumenthal said. "China has been fairly extractive in those areas and again for China to become a global power that exercises responsibility, you can't just reap the economic benefits."

Middle East experts in China have noted that the country has a fresh point of view unsullied by years of involvement in the region. It has a carefully crafted position of supporting the Palestinian cause -- dating back to 1965 when the Palestinian Liberation Organization setup an office in Beijing -- but also being a close friend of Israel, as its third-largest trading partner behind the U.S. and the European Union.

"The United States' slant toward Israel has long been regarded as a bias stance by Arabic countries, so this bias towards Israel is not helpful for President Obama when it comes to pushing forward current or future initiatives," said He Wenping, a senior researcher at the Chinese Academy of Social Sciences (CASS). "But China maintains good relations with both Israel and Palestine, so China's stance is viewed as more neutral than the United States."

Just how much political capital Beijing is willing to spend hammering out a deal that has eluded others remains a critical question – one that could be fraught with risk to China's relationship with the Muslim world. Would Beijing be willing to put its neutral position and substantial business partnerships in the region in jeopardy?

To be sure, Xi's meetings with Netanyahu and Abbas were modest at best in ambition. The two Middle Eastern leaders never met face-to-face. And Xi's "four-point plan" effectively parroted calls by the United States for an independent Palestinian state, supplemented with a firm call for the two countries' boundaries to be based on 1967 borders with East Jerusalem serving as the new Palestinian state's capital.

"I don't think China has some magical power at hand that can make the Israeli-Palestinian process move more smoothly," said He of CASS. "It is significant that Israel and Palestine both recognized China's role because if they don't want China involved, [Netanyahu and Abbas] would have never come to China. This shows they wish for and they recognize China's role in the process."

Whether their involvement is desired or not, past Chinese diplomatic history suggests that given the options, China in the short-term would likely continue a nominal role rather than put trade relations at risk.

But a silver lining is the affirmation that while China and the U.S. continue to have major political differences on issues ranging from Iran to America's Asia "pivot," there is room for the two powers to cooperate and engage on the Israeli-Palestinian conflict.

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Looking to kickstart long-stalled peace talks while traveling in the Middle East, U.S. Secretary of State John Kerry said he will first work on breaking down mistrust between Palestinians and Israelis but so far refuses to publicly offer any specific details of any fresh, or modified, peace plan.

After meeting with Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas on Sunday, Kerry spent Monday — Israel’s Holocaust memorial day — first laying down a red, white and blue wreath at Yad Vashem, the official monument for the 6 million Jews murdered during World War II. He then met with Palestinian Prime Minister Salam Fayyad and Israeli President Shimon Peres.

Kerry hinted at only a broad outline of his strategy to revive peace negotiations.

“There are reasons that mistrust has built up," Kerry said on Monday. “I am convinced that we can break that down, but I'm not going to do it under guidelines or time limits.”

Kerry, who said he's already begun discussions surrounding mistrust issues between Palestinians and Jews, said he would explore “what that process ought to be appropriately that satisfies needs.”

He also mentioned economic issues as critical to “changing perceptions and realities on the ground” and creating momentum for peace.

In remarks with Peres on Monday, Kerry said he believes peace is possible.

“I am convinced there is a road forward,” Kerry said. “And I look forward to the discussions with your leaders and yourself regarding how that road could be sort of reignited, if you will, once again setting out on that path.”

Peres noted "a new sense of optimism, of hope."

"My dear friend, there is a new wind of peace blowing through the Middle East," Peres said.

At a dinner Kerry met with Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu. 

Kerry is attempting to break loose a 4½-year stalemate between the Israelis and Palestinians during which there has been intense fighting and the two sides have rarely talked peace. Kerry was making his third trip to the region in two weeks.

Palestinian and Arab officials have pointed to a revival, with modifications, of a 2002 Arab Peace Initiative that offered a comprehensive peace with Israel in exchange for a pullout from territories captured in the 1967 Mideast war – the West Bank, east Jerusalem and the Golan Heights – that Israel says is unacceptable. 

The Palestinian officials, The Associated Press reported, say Kerry is seeking greater Arab-Israeli security commitments and softer language on borders as part of the plan.

A senior State Department official, however, denied to the AP that Kerry was proposing changes to the plan, and Kerry gave no hint of specific proposals on Monday.

The annual Holocaust remembrance is a solemn day in Israel in which restaurants, cafes and theaters shut down. Radio and TV stations air documentaries about the Holocaust as well as interviews with survivors and somber music. A two-minute siren was sounded earlier in the day to honor victims.

President Barack Obama, who visited Yad Vashem on his trip to Israel last month, issued a statement saying the day offered a chance to remember the "beautiful lives lost" and to "pay tribute to all those who resisted the Nazis' heinous acts and all those who survived." 

Kerry said the wailing of the sirens in the morning "had a profound impact on me. It was impressive."

NBC News' Catherine Chomiak and The Associated Press contributed to this report.

Related: New interest in old Mideast peace plan

Barack Obama on Friday laid a stone from the grounds of the Washington memorial to Martin Luther King Jr. on the grave of Yitzhak Rabin, the Israeli prime minister assassinated by a Jewish extremist enraged by his efforts to make peace with Palestinians.

"Sometimes it is harder to embark on peace then to embark on war," Rabin's daughter Dalia quoted Obama as telling the family at the grave site on Mount Herzl, Israel’s national cemetery, Reuters reported.

In a televised speech Thursday, Obama appealed to ordinary Israelis to put pressure on their leaders to make a peace deal with the Palestinians. He urged Israelis to put themselves in Palestinians' shoes and recognize their right to "self-determination, their right to justice."

On Friday, the president also visited the Yad Vashem Holocaust memorial in Jerusalem.

He spoke of the "wrenching power" of the memorial to the 6 million Jews killed by the Nazis in World War II, calling it a "sacred place."

"The state of Israel does not exist because of the Holocaust, but with the survival of a strong Jewish state of Israel, such a Holocaust will never happen again," Obama said.

At the national cemetery, Obama laid another stone — as is customary at Jewish cemeteries — on the grave of the man after which it was named, Theodor Herzl, the founder of modern Zionism who died in 1904 before realizing his dream of a Jewish homeland.

"It is humbling and inspiring to visit and remember the visionary who began the remarkable establishment of the State of Israel," Obama wrote in the Mt. Herzl guestbook, according to The Associated Press. "May our two countries possess the same vision and will to secure peace and prosperity for future generations."

'Won Israeli hearts'
Obama also toured the Church of the Nativity in Bethlehem with Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas.

In the church, Obama was greeted by Greek Orthodox Patriarch Theophilos III, Father Pierbattista Pizzaballa, Franciscan Custodian of the Holy Land, and Armenian Orthodox Archbishop Sevan Gharibian.

An editorial Israel’s Haaretz newspaper said "Obama’s goal in coming to Israel has been achieved."

Mark Neyman / Israel government / Getty Images

President Barack Obama places a stone taken from the grounds of the Martin Luther King memorial in Washington D.C. on the grave of Yitzhak and Keah Rabin.

"He won Israeli hearts and gave Israelis a sense of security, in the hope that now they will take charge and push the leadership toward a peace agreement with the Palestinians," it added.

The Jerusalem Post said primarily leftist commentators had "lamented" that Obama’s visit had not focused mainly on the peace process between Israelis and Palestinians.

"Americans understand that it is not their country’s support for Israel that triggers the rabid hatred of America felt by so many citizens of Muslim states. Rather, it is what America stands for — freedom, liberty, tolerance, democracy — that is viewed by popular movements such as the Muslim Brotherhood, with its reactionary worldview of restoring the caliphate and Sharia [law], as the real threat to the region and to Muslim sensibilities," it wrote.

"Washington’s Herculean attempts in recent years to end the Israeli-Palestinian conflict emanate from a desire to see both Israelis and Palestinians flourish in free, democratic states of their own. The vast majority of Israelis share that dream. Unfortunately, the majority of Palestinians still do not," it added. "A majority of Americans and their president are increasingly recognizing this sad fact. Others have yet to do so."

Later Friday, Obama flew to Amman, Jordan, where he had talks with the country's King Abdullah, an important ally of the U.S. in the region.

Obama concerned about Syrian extremists
At a press conference, Abdullah said his country was struggling to cope with the flood of refugees who had fled to Jordan from conflict-stricken Syria — about 460,000, roughly equal to 10 percent of Jordan’s population.

This, he said, was the equivalent of 30 million refugees arriving in the United States, relative to the U.S. population. One refugee camp was now the fifth largest city in Jordan, Abdullah said.

Obama said his administration was working with Congress to provide Jordan with an additional $200 million in aid this year. The United States already is the largest single donor of humanitarian aid for the Syrian people.

He said the United States had worked to establish a credible political opposition to Syria's President Bashar Assad, whose ouster, he said, was a matter of when, not if.

However, Obama said the situation in Syria would likely be difficult for some time to come and he was "very concerned about Syria becoming an enclave for extremism."

"Extremism thrives on chaos, they thrive in failed states, they thrive in power vacuums," he said. "They don’t have much to offer when it comes to building things."

Asked about the risk of a nuclear-armed Iran, Obama said he wanted to see a diplomatic solution to the crisis and that Iran could end it by satisfying the international community that its nuclear program was purely peaceful as it insists.

"This is a solvable problem — if in fact Iran is not pursuing a nuclear weapon," he said. He reiterated that he had not ruled out military action to prevent Iran getting the bomb.

King Abdullah said the Middle East already had too many problem.

"Any military action, whether Israeli or Iranian, to me at this stage is Pandora’s box, because nobody can guarantee what the outcome will be," he said. "We just don't need another thing on our shoulders."

Obama is due to return to the United States on Saturday.

Reuters and The Associated Press contributed to this report.

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Obama: 'Still time' for diplomatic solution to Iran nuke dispute

This story was originally published on Fri Mar 22, 2013 6:42 AM EDT

On his first state visit to Israel, President Barack Obama said Wednesday the United States “will do what is necessary” to prevent Iran from getting nuclear weapons and was praised by Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu for his resolve.

During a joint press conference peppered with warm exchanges, two leaders who have not always seen eye to eye stressed points of agreement, even clarifying that both Israel and the U.S. believe it would take about a year for Iran to develop a nuclear weapon,

But there were also some signs of disagreement.

While Obama said “there is still time” to find a diplomatic solution to the problem of Iran’s uranium-enrichment program, Netanyahu emphasized the clock is ticking.

Oliwer Weiken / EPA

Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu (second right) and President Shimon Peres (left) welcome President Barack Obama to Israel Wednesday. All three emphasized the enduring friendship between the U.S. and Israel.

“Whatever time is left, there’s not a lot of time,” he said.

Praising Obama for mobilizing the international community, Netanyahu noted that “diplomacy and sanctions so far have not stopped Iran's nuclear program” and called for a “clear and credible threat of military action.”

Responding that all options are on the table, Obama said, “We will do what is necessary to prevent Iran from getting the world's worst weapons.”

Still, he suggested that the U.S. and Israel might have different timetables for how and when to respond.

“Each country has to make its own decisions when it comes to the awesome decision to engage in any kind of military action. And Israel is differently situated than the United States,” Obama said.

Netanyahu also spoke of “different vulnerabilities” but stressed the common ground.

“I appreciate the fact that the president has reaffirmed, more than any other president, Israel's right and duty to defend itself, by itself, against any threat,” he said.

The press conference, in which both men made statements and answered four questions, also focused on the situation in Syria and the prospects for Israeli-Palestinian peace.

“Israel remains fully committed to peace and to the solution of two states for two peoples,” Netanyahu said, adding that he hoped Obama’s visit and his meeting Thursday with Palestinian officials in the West Bank would “help us turn a page in our relations with the Palestinian people.”

Asked about claims that Syrian President Bashar Assad’s regime used chemical weapons Tuesday, Obama said the U.S. is still investigating but he is “deeply skeptical” of the government’s allegation that the opposition deployed the weapons.

“I believe Assad must go and I believe he will go,” Obama said. 

Meeting with Peres
The question-and-answer session came hours after Obama declared that Israel has "no greater friend than the United States," following a meeting with Israel’s President Shimon Peres.

Ammar Awad / Reuters

Palestinian demonstrators hold placards, some depicting President Barack Obama dressed as an Israeli soldier during a protest in the West Bank city of Ramallah on Tuesday.

Peres warmly praised Obama as “very knowledgeable,” adding there could be “no better” leader to take the peace process forward. He also thanked Obama for the “lots of sleepless nights” the president had endured in support of Israel.

Earlier Wednesday, Obama was met at Tel Aviv's airport by Netanyahu and Peres, along with a military band and a host of other officials and dignitaries.

All three men gave speeches that emphasized the friendship between the U.S. and Israel – Netanyahu spoke of the “unbreakable alliance,” Obama the “unbreakable bond.”

Obama, who began his speech with “shalom,” said he was “confident in declaring that our alliance is eternal.”

“The United States is proud to stand with you as your strongest ally and your greatest friend,” he said.

He said it was not an accident that he had made the first overseas trip of his second term in office to Israel.

“Across this region, the winds of change bring both promise and peril,” Obama said, likely a reference to the Arab Spring uprisings that saw an Islamist president voted into power in Egypt and a civil war erupt in Syria.

In his speech, Netanyahu thanked Obama for “standing by Israel at this time of historic change in the Middle East.”

“We deeply appreciate your friendship and we share your hope that the Middle East will enjoy a future of freedom, prosperity and peace,” he added.

Picking up on comments Obama made before the trip –- expressing the desire to put on a disguise and go to a Tel Aviv bar -- Netanyahu joked that he had lined up a few locations and “even picked out a fake mustache for you.”

Obama also viewed an “Iron Dome” air defense missile launcher, a U.S.-funded system that was brought to the airport for him to see. The system has helped protect Israelis from Hamas rocket attacks from Gaza.

 On Thursday, the president will meet Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas in the West Bank, where he can expect a mixed reception.

"It's not a positive visit," Wasel Abu Yousef, a senior official in the Palestine Liberation Organization, which is led by Abbas, told Reuters.

In Ramallah on Tuesday, Palestinian police scuffled with scores of demonstrators protesting Obama's visit.

Obama is likely to offer reassurance that the U.S. still supports the creation of an independent Palestinian state.

However, little progress on the peace process is expected during the trip.

'Horrible conclusion'
In an editorial Wednesday, the Haaretz newspaper said it would “take a good bit of imagination to expect a breakthrough over the next two days.”

“Here lies the central danger of the visit. The Israeli government and public could conclude, based on the polite tone of the president and the lack of a threat or demonstrative pressure, that Israel is now exempt from having to initiate steps toward resuming the peace process,” it wrote.

“This would be a horrible conclusion. Obama and the United States are not a party to the Israeli-Palestinian conflict. The president of the United States is not the one who must live in a society that is being transformed as a result of the occupation and pushed to the margins of the international community,” it added.

The Jerusalem Post said that there would “admittedly” be “little if any headway” on the Israeli-Palestinian conflict.

However, its editorial said the visit would be more than just a “charm offensive,” given the war in Syria and the prospect of Iran getting a nuclear weapon. Iran insists its nuclear program is for peaceful means only.

“As the leader of the Jewish people, who have been threatened with destruction by Iran’s leaders, Netanyahu wants assurances that the U.S. will launch a military strike if necessary to prevent a nuclear-armed Iran,” the Post wrote.

“Ideally, he would also like to define a mutually agreed upon ‘red line’ or the point at which it has been determined that diplomacy and sanctions are useless and military action must be taken,” it added.

Reuters contributed to this report.

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Syria chaos looms large over Obama's Israel trip

Oliver Weiken / Pool via Reuters

Israel's Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu backed up his rhetoric last week with an airstrike targeting a Syrian convoy.

News analysis

It's hard to get a handle on it — few Israelis are willing to talk about it on the record — but there's been a palpable shift in thinking in Israel about launching an airstrike on Iran. Nowhere more than in the counter-terrorism community itself.

Even among the more reasoned — and moderate — voices there, the tone has moved from cautious optimism that an Israeli strike on Iran's uranium enrichment facilities could be avoided to gloomy inevitability.

"It's no longer a question of if but when," replied one Israeli analyst when asked if Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu would respond militarily if Iran crossed his "red lines" and acquired a nuclear bomb.

Several analysts ticked off different factors behind the change of heart:

• A growing realization that sanctions — no matter how robust — won't stop Tehran from crossing Netanyahu's "red lines" and posing an existential threat to the nation.
• Fueled by the Arab Spring, a sense of chaos swirling around Israel's borders has led Israelis to vote once again for the tough-minded Netanyahu  — albeit in fewer numbers  — and to sympathize with his hardline policy of protecting Israel at all costs, with walls, fences, and airstrikes, if necessary.
• There was a belief  — call it a hope  — that Netanyahu would not "go it alone" against Iran  — that President Barack Obama would prevail upon him to avoid any unilateral action that might trigger an unforeseen Arab conflagration against Israel. But some Israeli analysts say that Netanyahu seems much less worried than Obama about a lethal Arab response to an airstrike on Iran.

Only a few months ago the Israeli consensus on Iran felt much different. At the height of last fall's Iran–Israel crisis, former Israeli Defense Minister Ehud Barak  — once Netanyahu's boss in an elite commando unit  — not only had the prime minister's ear, but seemed to counter his most hawkish impulses. Then, in late November, Barak quit the cabinet – and Israeli politics.

After elections last month, a new centrist party and leader were swept onto the political scene. Yair Lapid – a charismatic, former news anchorman – was expected to pressure Netanyahu into softer positions. So far, just the opposite has happened.

"It seems that Lapid is not as committed as Bibi (Netanyahu) to prevent Iran from becoming nuclear…(Lapid) is not being regarded as a military authority in Israel and he might not have the weight to balance Bibi," said Dr Boaz Ganor, director of the Herzliya Institute for Counter-Terrorism.

Ganor went on to say that  — ultimately  — the order to strike Iran will be most influenced by the next Israeli defense minister. It now looks likely that will be the even more hawkish vice premier, Moshe Yaalon (unless Barak returns to the fold).

With some reports suggesting that Iran is only months away from a nuclear bomb, the Obama administration is sticking to its support for tough sanctions, but also saying that Iran cannot be allowed to get a nuclear weapon.

Netanyahu, meanwhile, has backed up his rhetoric: last week, the Israeli Air Force summarily destroyed a Syrian convoy of sophisticated rockets — inside Syria — allegedly heading to Lebanon and into the hands of Hezbollah, a sworn enemy of Israel.

"In Israel, there is wall to wall consent that Israel should do whatever it takes so that Hezbollah does not get access to these dangerous materials," Ganor said.

Will Iran be next?

Jim Maceda is an NBC News foreign correspondent based in London who has just returned from an assignment in Israel.

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Surprisingly centrist vote has Netanyahu reaching to the left

TEL AVIV — Israelis headed to the polls Tuesday in an election that was expected to give Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu a third term in office and mark a shift to the political right.

More than 5.6 million Israeli are eligible to vote, and results are expected Wednesday morning.

Exit polls showed the Israeli leader's Likud party, yoked with the ultra-nationalist Yisrael Beitenu group, would still be the biggest bloc in the 120-member assembly with 31 seats, 11 fewer than the 42 they held in the previous parliament. 

The vote is expected to be followed by talks between different political parties to form a coalition government since no single party is likely to get an outright majority of the 120 seats in the Knesset.

Netanyahu’s Likud party is running with the nationalist Yisrael Beitenu party, and opinion polls have showed a surge in support for the far-right Jewish Home party, Reuters reported.

Several Israeli Arabs and Palestinians claimed Tuesday that Israel was moving toward “fascism and racism” and said that hope for the creation of Palestinian nation as part of the proposed two-state solution to the Mideast crisis was fading.

In Tel Aviv, however, voter Ari Abacsis, in his late 20s, said Netanyahu was a proven leader.

“I think Netanyahu did it in the past and he did it quiet well. Nobody is perfect, but Netanyahu fits the requirements,” he said.

“He did some good things. He brought back Gilad Shalit [the Israeli soldier held for years in Gaza]. We remember him for that and for a lot of other things,” he added. “All the others didn't prove themselves. He proves himself. I think we don't know what is happening behind the scenes.”

Young people have 'lost hope'
Yaffa Braverman, 58, an art gallery owner in Tel Aviv, criticized the number of small parties in Israeli politics.

“The problem is the system. We need more big parties that are capable of making important decisions, and the way that we'll do it again is based on small parties and everyone fighting for his own chair,” she said. “I think that's why the young generation has lost hope.”

Avi Shai, 35, financial adviser also from Tel Aviv, said he hoped Netanyahu would develop better relations with the United States and move to the left.

“I don't see any resolution coming because it's a different situation we're in," he said. "A lot of things can happen in the near and far future. Everything is liquid here in the Middle East. It doesn't matter which prime minister is elected -- a lot of things can happen."

“I hope that Prime Minister Netanyahu would be more in the left wing and would have better agreement with Obama, which is not the case right now,” he added.

Palestinians living in Israel expressed a similar lack of hope, but in much stronger terms.

Hana Hurani, 34, an engineer from Eilaboun in the north and an activist in the National Democratic Assembly, said Israel’s politics were headed toward “fascism and racism.”

“We, the Arabs, should stress our national identity and our unity as Arabs. Election day is a day on which Arabs try to represent themselves, and after that we go back to a racist reality,” he said.

“On the Palestinian issue, I expect there to be a stalemate and as there will be more settlement expansion, we will witness the final burial of the two-state solution on which there is an international consensus,” he added.

'Indifference is fatal'
Hurani said Israeli Arabs should “be more active” politically: “Indifference is fatal. … Unfortunately, ignorance and abstention from voting is one of our enemies."

Nijmeh Ali, 30, a political science Ph.D. candidate at the Hebrew University and a lecturer at Al Quds University in Jerusalem, said it was clear from opinion polls that the next government would be right-wing.

“The Palestinian street is boiling, and it will explode at one point against the existing occupation,” he said.

“There is racism and discrimination against the Arabs in Israel, and this will not change since we are a defect in the Zionist project, whether we demand our social or political rights. The legitimization of racism will increase,” he added.

Mustafa Barghuti, 55, a member of the Palestinian National initiative in Ramallah on the West Bank, said most Israelis were voting for Jewish settlements and an “apartheid system at the expense of peace and a two-state solution.”

“It looks like there is no peace camp in Israel,” he added.

Fawzi Barhum, a spokesman for the Hamas movement in Gaza, said he expected that Israel would elect the “most extreme and racist government to lead Israel.”

Reuters contributed to this report.

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Updated at 11 p.m. ET: The day after Israeli aircraft bombed Hamas offices in Gaza and Hamas fired a rocket at Tel Aviv, Egypt's president said Saturday night that "some indications" exist that a ceasefire might be possible.

"There are some indications that there is a possibility of a ceasefire soon, but we do not yet have firm guarantees," Egyptian President Mohammed Morsi told a joint news conference with Turkish Prime Minister Tayyip Erdogan, who was visiting Cairo.

Egypt had brokered an informal truce in October that has since collapsed, and it has said it is working for a new deal.

Before dawn on Saturday, Israeli aircraft fired missiles at Gaza buildings that included the office of Gaza Prime Minister Ismail Haniyeh, as armed conflict in the region entered its fourth day.

Uriel Sinai / Getty Images

An Israeli missile from the "Iron Dome" defense system is fired Saturday to destroy a rocket fired from Gaza at Tel Aviv.

Hamas later retaliated, firing a rocket at Israel's biggest city, Tel Aviv, for the third straight day. Police said it was destroyed in mid-air by an Iron Dome anti-missile battery deployed hours earlier, and no one was injured.

But Hamas rocket fire appeared to be subsiding. The Israeli military said Sunday morning that Gaza militants hadn't attacked Israel since the night before.

Overnight, six journalists were wounded in Gaza City when Israeli warplanes hit a television station, according to Agence France-Presse. Reuters said witnesses identified the station as al Quds, which Israel sees as pro-Hamas. Sky News reported that around 5 a.m. local time, two missiles hit the building that houses its studios and offices. Al-Arabiya also said that its offices had been hit.

Medics say that 48 people living in Gaza were killed by early Sunday and more than 450 injured since Israel started airstrikes Wednesday, Agence France-Presse reported.

In the Israeli Mediterranean port of Ashdod, a rocket ripped into several balconies. Police said five people were hurt.

As the crisis escalates, Israel's military is considering waging a ground campaign. It started drafting 16,000 reserve troops on Friday, as Israel's Cabinet authorized the mobilization of up to 75,000 reservists. Troops were massing on the border and witnesses said they could see Israeli ships off Gaza's coast, NBC News' Ayman Mohyeldin reported.

In a broadcast statement, Hamas’s military wing, the Qassam Brigades, said a ground invasion would be "stupid and foolish."

The statement also said that Hamas has used sophisticated weapons – including locally made, long-range rockets -- to strike at Tel Aviv and Jerusalem.

Hamas says it blames Israel for the war, saying that Israeli leaders made “stupid” decisions that triggered the wrath of Hamas, and that has forced Israelis into bomb shelters.

Despite the violence, Tunisia's foreign minister arrived in the coastal enclave on Saturday in a show of solidarity, denouncing the Israeli attacks as illegitimate and unacceptable.

Officials in Gaza said 41 Palestinians, among them 20 civilians including eight children and a pregnant woman, had been killed in Gaza since Israel began operations four days ago. Three Israeli civilians were killed by a rocket on Thursday.

Israel's military said its air force had hit at least 180 targets since midnight, including a police headquarters, government buildings, rocket launching squads and a Hamas training facility in the impoverished territory.

Reporting from Gaza City, NBC's Richard Engel posted a message on Twitter describing the buzz of drones over the city. "It sounds like everyone is out mowing their lawns in the dark," he said.

A three-story house belonging to Hamas official Abu Hassan Salah was also hit and completely destroyed early on Saturday. Rescuers said at least 30 people were pulled from the rubble.

"What Israel is doing is not legitimate and is not acceptable at all," Tunisian Foreign Minister Rafik Abdesslem said as he visited Haniyeh's wrecked headquarters. "It does not have total immunity and is not above international law."

Hatem Moussa / AP

A ball of fire rises from an Israeli airstrike in Gaza City on Saturday.

Hamas says it is committed to continued confrontation with Israel and is eager not to seem any less resolute than smaller, more radical groups that have emerged in Gaza in recent years.

The Islamist Hamas has ruled Gaza since 2007. Israel pulled settlers out of Gaza in 2005 but has maintained a blockade of the territory.

Israel launched a massive air campaign on Wednesday with the declared aim of deterring Hamas from launching cross-border rocket salvoes that have plagued southern Israel for years.

The Palestinians have fired hundreds of rockets out of Gaza, including one at Jerusalem and three at Tel Aviv - Israel's commercial center. Jerusalem had not been targeted in such a way since 1970, and Tel Aviv since 1991.

Key players in the Israel-Gaza cross-border conflict

Although there were no reports of casualties or damage in either city, the long-range attacks came as a shock and advanced the prospect of an Israeli ground invasion into Gaza.

"This will last as long as is needed; we have not limited ourselves in means or in time," Foreign Minister Avigdor Lieberman told Israel's Channel One television on Saturday.

In a call with Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu on Friday, U.S. President Barack Obama reiterated American support for Israel to defend itself, Reuters reported. The two leaders also discussed options for "de-escalating" the situation, the White House said in a statement.

He also called Egypt's Morsi on Friday, and underscored his hope of restoring stability.

Rockets from Gaza fired on Tel Aviv and Jerusalem

Netanyahu held a four-hour strategy session late on Friday with a clutch of senior ministers on widening the military campaign, while other cabinet members were polled by telephone on increasing mobilization.

Political sources said they decided to more than double the current reserve troop quota set for the Gaza offensive to 75,000. It did not necessarily mean all would be called up.

Suhaib Salem / Reuters

Palestinians inspect the destroyed office building of Hamas Prime Minister Ismail Haniyeh in Gaza City on Saturday.

In a further sign Netanyahu might be clearing the way for a ground operation, Israel's armed forces decreed a highway leading to the territory and two roads bordering the enclave of 1.7 million Palestinians off-limits to civilian traffic.

NBC's Ayman Mohyeldin answers your questions about Israel-Gaza conflict

The Israeli military said some 367 rockets fired from Gaza had hit Israel since Wednesday and at least 222 more were intercepted by its Iron Dome anti-missile system.

The Israel Defense Force said Saturday that mortar fire from Gaza had damaged an electricity cable in the south of Israel. "As a result, power is out in areas of northern Gaza Strip," the IDF said in a message posted on Twitter.

Four Iron Domes were deployed initially and a fifth was rushed into action on Saturday, weeks ahead of schedule. The army said it was placed in the Tel Aviv area, showing Israel's concern for the safety of its heavily populated coastline.

Reuters contributed to this report.

Slideshow: Israel, Gaza violence escalates

Ammar Awad / Reuters

Two sides exchange deadly airstrikes, rocket attacks.

Launch slideshow

DUBAI -- Iran launched a submarine and a destroyer into the Persian Gulf from Bandar Abbas port on Tuesday at the same time as U.S. and allied forces held massive naval exercises in the same waters to practice keeping oil shipping lanes open.

Tehran has repeatedly threatened to close the Strait of Hormuz, a route for oil exports from the gulf, if Iranian nuclear sites are attacked by Israel, which believes Tehran is trying to develop an atomic bomb.

The United States, Britain, France and a number of Middle Eastern states are conducting a naval exercise in the gulf this week, focusing on how to clear mines that Tehran or guerilla groups might deploy to disrupt tanker traffic.

The exercises, with 25 countries participating, are the largest ever of its kind in the region, according to Britain’s Telegraph newspaper 

The multinational force includes three U.S. Nimitz class carrier groups, each of which has more aircraft than Iran’s entire air force, the newspaper said.

The force is also supported by at least 12 battleships, including ballistic missile cruisers, frigates, destroyers and assault ships, which carry thousands of U.S. Marines and special forces, the Telegraph reported.

Netanyahu: Iran guided by 'unbelievable fanaticism'

Iran's refitted Tareq-901 submarine and Sahand destroyer were launched on the direct orders of Supreme Leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei, the official IRNA news agency reported.

Iran's 'strong fence'
On the other side of the country, Khamenei visited the northern coastal city of Nowshahr on Tuesday to watch naval cadets practice planting mines, freeing hijacked ships, destroying enemy vessels and jumping from helicopters, his official website said.

Israeli  PM tries to strike more neutral pose in U.S. election

"The armed forces must reach capabilities such that no one can attack the strong fence of the country and the dear people of Iran," Khamenei told army commanders, according to the Iranian Students News Agency.

Iran's Tareq-class submarines are diesel-electric boats that were originally built in Russia in the early 1990s, according to the Nuclear Threat Initiative, a non-profit organization that focuses on security affairs.

Iran: 'Nothing will remain' of Israel if war starts

Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu said Sunday that Tehran was close to being able to build a nuclear bomb, fuelling speculation about an Israeli strike. Iran insists its nuclear program is peaceful.

Publicly, Iranian military officials have sounded relaxed about the U.S. naval exercise.

Complete Mideast & North Africa coverage on NBCNews.com

"This exercise is a defensive exercise and we don't perceive any threats from it," Mohammad Ali Jafari, commander of the Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps, told local media.

"We are not conducting exercises in response," he said.

NBC News staff and Reuters contributed to this report.

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Ammar Awad / Reuters

Israel's Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu, left, shakes hands with Shaul Mofaz, head of the Kadima party, during their joint news conference in Jerusalem on Tuesday.

JERUSALEM -- Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu called off plans Tuesday for early elections and formed a unity government in a surprise move that could give him a freer hand to confront Iran's nuclear ambitions.

The deal, agreed at a secret meeting overnight, means the centrist Kadima party will hook up with Netanyahu's rightist coalition, creating a wide parliamentary majority of 94 legislators in the 120-seat parliament, one of the biggest in Israeli history.

"A broad national unity government is good for security, good for the economy and good for the people of Israel," said a statement from the prime minister's office, quoting Netanyahu.

At a news conference, Netanyahu promised "serious and responsible" talks on Iran with Kadima, and said the coalition would promote a "responsible" peace process with the Palestinians.

Environment Minister Gilad Erdan said the accord would help build support for potential action against Iran's atomic program which Israel views as an existential threat.

"An election wouldn't stop Iran's nuclear program. When a decision is taken to attack or not, it is better to have a broad political front, that unites the public," he told Israel Radio.

Global powers wary of war
The recently elected head of Kadima, Shaul Mofaz, will be named vice premier in the new government, officials said, adding that the accord would be formally ratified later Tuesday and presented to parliament.

As deputy prime minister in a former Kadima-headed government in 2008, Mofaz was among the first Israeli officials to publicly moot the possibility of an attack on Iran.

A onetime defense minister, the Iranian-born Mofaz has been more circumspect while in the opposition, saying Israel should not hasten to break ranks with war-wary world powers that are trying to pressure Iran through sanctions and negotiations.

Gerald Steinberg, a political scientist at Bar-Ilan University near Tel Aviv, said the coalition deal "sends a very strong signal to Tehran, but also to Europe and the United States, that Israel is united and the leadership is capable of dealing with the threats that are there if and when it becomes necessary."

Israeli officials have said the next year will be crucial in seeing whether Iran is willing to back down in the face of widespread international condemnation and curb its nuclear plans.

Israel has regularly hinted it will strike the Islamic republic if Tehran does not pull back.

Iran regularly dismisses Israeli and Western accusations that it is working on developing a nuclear bomb, saying its program is focused on generating electricity and other peaceful projects. Israel is widely assumed to have the Middle East's only nuclear arsenal.

'A pact of cowards'
The next national election is not due until October 2013 but Netanyahu this month had pushed for an early poll after divisions emerged in his coalition over a new military conscription law. Parliament was preparing for a final vote to dissolve itself and clear the decks for a September 4 ballot while the backroom talks with Kadima were under way.

The accord stunned the political establishment and drew swift condemnation from the center-left Labor party, which had been touted in opinion polls to be on course for a resurgence at the expense of Kadima.

"This is a pact of cowards and the most contemptible and preposterous zigzag in Israel's political history," Labor party leader Shelly Yachimovich was quoted as saying in the media, where commentators hailed Netanyahu's political prowess.

Kadima, with 28 seats, will add significant weight to the coalition, but it remains uncertain how it will get along with religious and ultra-right parties also in the cabinet.

Inter-government relations are likely to be tested swiftly over the issue of settlement building after the high court ordered the government on Monday to demolish five apartment buildings in a Jewish settlement in the occupied West Bank.

Many of Netanyahu's supporters want him to push through legislation to legalize settlements, such as the Ulpana apartments, which a court has ruled were built on privately owned Palestinian land.

It is not clear if Kadima would support such a move, which would draw international condemnation on Israel. Palestinians say settlement building is jeopardizing their chance to create an independent state. 

Reuters and The Associated Press contributed to this report.

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Just days before what could be the most consequential meeting of U.S. and Israeli leaders in years, aides to President Barack Obama and Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu are scrambling to bridge stark differences over what Washington fears could be an Israeli attack on Iran's nuclear sites.

With tensions between Israel and Iran running sky high, U.S. officials and military analysts are growing concerned that Israel will launch a multi-phase air and missile attack that could trigger waves of retaliatory missile strikes from Tehran.

That could quickly spiral into a regional conflict that would potentially force the U.S. to intervene to protect its interests.

Israeli voters disapprove of attack on Iran without US help

Further complicating Monday's White House talks is a trust deficit between the two men that has been magnified by mounting pressures of the U.S. presidential campaign. Obama's Republican foes are eager to paint him as too tough on Israel and too soft on Iran.

Netanyahu is coming to Washington to press Obama to more forcefully declare "red lines" that Iran must not cross in its nuclear program, Israeli officials say, even as speculation mounts that the Jewish state could act militarily on its own in coming months.

"If you don't want me to attack now, I want guarantees," an Israeli official quoted Netanyahu telling top Obama aides who visited Jerusalem last month. "If you're saying, 'we'll take care of you', you're not saying that clearly enough."

US, Britain urge Israel not to attack Iran

The White House has signaled that Obama, who has pledged to prevent Iran from building a nuclear weapon but has been vague on how far he is prepared to go, will resist pressure for a public policy shift.

Time running out?
Instead, amid growing signs that U.S.-led international sanctions are starting to take a toll on Iran, he will seek to persuade Netanyahu to hold off on any military strike to give those measures and diplomacy time to work, U.S. officials say.

But Israeli officials say they fear that time is running out for an effective Israeli attack as Iran buries its uranium enrichment program deeper underground.

Monday's meeting was supposed to have been a defining moment for the American and Israeli leaders, a chance to present a united front as international pressure on Iran intensifies.

Calls for a tougher approach on Iran are also coming from Republican presidential hopefuls, who see Obama as vulnerable on the issue as he seeks re-election and will seize on any public rift with Netanyahu.

Netanyahu will be pushing not only for Obama's acceptance of whatever action Israel decides to take but for stronger language against Iran that goes beyond the "all options are on the table" mantra on U.S. intentions, Israeli officials said.

Fears grow of Israel-Iran missile shootout

Washington has been working to convince the Israelis that a go-it-alone attack would cause only a temporary setback to Tehran's nuclear ambitions while possibly plunging the already-volatile Middle East into chaos.

And Obama's aides insist that an explicit U.S. military threat would be counterproductive right now, especially due to the potential for further spikes in global oil prices and the risk that Tehran might backtrack on overtures seen as opening the door to renewed nuclear talks with world powers.

Slideshow: Everyday life in Iran

At schools, in shops, and on the streets of big cities and small towns, daily life plays out in Iran.

Launch slideshow

But a source close to the administration's thinking on Iran told Reuters the president might try to placate some of Netanyahu's concerns in private and could also pledge even more sanctions to tighten the vise on Tehran.

The White House has proposed the two leaders issue a joint statement after they meet, but the idea has yet to be firmed up, an Israeli official said. A show of solidarity on certain issues might help keep differences under wraps on others.

An administration official also would not rule out the possibility that Obama could harden some of his rhetoric on Iran when he addresses the largest U.S. pro-Israel lobby in Washington on Sunday, the day before he sees Netanyahu.

Israel wary of Washington
Despite that, U.S. officials doubt that Netanyahu will go as far as providing assurances that Israel will consult Washington -- its biggest source of military assistance -- before launching any strikes on Iran, which has called for the destruction of the Jewish state.

Religious, political hard-liners face off in Iran election

Even if Obama privately reassures Netanyahu that the U.S. has the firepower to deliver a devastating blow to Iran's nuclear program further down the line, the Israelis have made clear they cannot rely on that commitment alone.

"Anyone who thinks that Israel is not going to make its own decision, particularly on an issue they view in existential terms, is kidding themselves," Obama's former Middle East adviser, Dennis Ross, told Reuters.

One line of thinking within the Obama administration is that keeping it in the dark about any Israeli military plans might be best for the United States since any sign of complicity would inflame anti-American sentiment in the Muslim world.

But even without a direct U.S. role, there will be deep suspicion across the Middle East that Israel would not act without a green light from Washington.

Still, it remains unclear whether Netanyahu will pay much heed to Obama's words of caution.

Some Obama aides remain suspicious of Netanyahu's motives. They are convinced that he would prefer to see a Republican take control of the White House in 2013 for fear that Obama's re-election would give him a freer hand to push anew for Israeli concessions to the Palestinians during a second term.

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Reuters and msnbc.com staff contributed to this report.