Amid the violence unravelling between Israel and the Palestinians, Joe Biden spoke Saturday with Palestinian Authority President Mahmud Abbas over call, for the first time since the US president took office in January, the White House said in a statement.

According to the White House memo, the two leaders discussed the “current tensions in Jerusalem and the West Bank” and President Biden stressed the need for Islamist militant group Hamas to “cease firing rockets into Israel.”

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Meanwhile, Abbas’s spokesman Nabil Abu Rudeina told AFP the conversation was “important”, without elaborating on the details of the exchange.

The talks come on the back of an Israeli airstrike destroying a high-rise building in Gaza that hosted international media organisations. 

The 13-storey building housed the American news agency Associated Press and the Qatar-based Al Jazeera among other media houses. Israeli defence officials said the building also hosted offices of Hamas militants, AFP reported. 

Biden updated Abbas on US diplomatic engagement on the ongoing conflict and both the countries shared the concern about the loss of innocent lives, especially of children.

In a bid to support the steps for Palestinian people to enjoy dignity, security, freedom, and economic opportunity, the United States recently resumed assistance to the Palestinian people, including economic and humanitarian assistance to benefit Palestinians in the West Bank and Gaza. President Biden highlighted those efforts to Abbas over the conversation.

Further, Biden assured about his country’s commitment to strengthening the US-Palestinian partnership.

Earlier in the day, Biden also spoke with Israel Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu. 

“I spoke on the phone with US President Joe Biden and updated him on developments and actions that Israel has taken and intends to take. I thanked him for his unreserved US support for our right to defend ourselves,” Netanyahu tweeted.

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Israel and Palestine are locked in the worst violence in 14 years with Israeli airstrikes in Gaza killing 145 people, including 41 children, since Monday. In reply, Gaza-based Hamas militants have fired at least 2,300 rockets at Israel, killing 10 people.