US Secretary of State John Kerry has arrived in Tel Aviv on Wednesday to seek ways of ending the deadliest violence in years between Israel and Gaza's Islamist Hamas.
Shortly after arriving Kerry said, “We have certainly made some steps forward. There is still work to be done," Reuters reports.
However, making an unannounced, one-day visit, Kerry is due to see Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu, Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas and UN Secretary General Ban Ki-moon, signalling an intensification of efforts to end the bloodshed.
Earlier, an Israeli official said Netanyahu had asked Kerry to help restore the US flights.
A US official said the Obama administration would not "overrule the FAA" on a security precaution but noted the ban would be reviewed after 24 hours.
Meanwhile, Gaza's Health Ministry officials told Reuters that 18 Palestinians were killed on Wednesday, many of them in the southern town of Khan Younis - one of the focal points of Israel's recent assault.
Gaza official further added that in the 16-day conflict, 475 houses had been totally destroyed by Israeli fire and 2,644 partially damaged. Some 46 schools, 56 mosques and seven hospitals had also suffered varying degrees of destruction.
Israeli military spokesman Lieutenant-Colonel Peter Lerner on Wednesday said, in the deadliest violence in this year about 29 Israeli soldiers have been killed in the conflagration, including a tank officer shot by a Palestinian sniper overnight.
Three civilians have died in rocket attacks out of Gaza, including a foreign labourer hit on Wednesday.
The military says one of its soldiers is also missing and believes he might be dead. Hamas says it has captured him, but has not released a picture of him in their hands.