U.S. Secretary of State Antony Blinken has not seen evidence that Hamas was operating in a Gaza office building housing media organizations, which Israel bombed over the weekend.  

Blinken said he had asked Israel for evidence that Hamas had a military intelligence operation in the same building that housed the Associated Press and Al Jazeera news bureaus. Israel used this as justification for the widely condemned airstrike.    

Sally Buzbee, AP's executive editor, said the Israeli government has yet to provide them clear evidence supporting its attack, which leveled the 12-story al-Jalaa tower on Saturday. 

The Israeli military, which gave AP journalists and other tenants around an hour to evacuate the block, claimed that Hamas used the building for weapons development and military intelligence. Israeli military spokesman, Jonathan Conricus, said Israel was currently compiling evidence for the U.S..

During his press conference in Copenhagen, Denmark, Blinken signaled that the U.S. would not join growing calls for an immediate ceasefire between Israel and Gaza's Hamas rulers as fighting entered its second week, with more than 200 people dead, most of them Palestinians in Gaza.

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Blinken's stand comes amid growing pressure on U.S. President Joe Biden to use diplomacy to end the worst Israel-Palestine violence in years and to revive long-collapsed mediation for a lasting peace there.

Speaking in Copenhagen, Blinken listed the U.S. outreach so far to de-escalate hostilities in the Gaza Strip and Israel, adding he would be making more calls Monday.

"In all of these engagements, we have made clear that we are prepared to lend our support and good offices to the parties should they seek a ceasefire," Blinken said.

He said he welcomed efforts by the UN and other nations working for a ceasefire, but the U.S. has so far prevented a proposed Security Council statement on the fighting.

"Any diplomatic initiative that advances that prospect is something that we'll support," he said. "And we are again willing and ready to do that. But ultimately, it is up to the parties to make clear that they want to pursue a ceasefire."

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According to the Gaza Health Ministry, at least 200 Palestinians have been killed in the strikes as of Monday, including 59 children and 35 women, with 1,300 wounded. Eight people in Israel have been killed in rocket attacks launched from Gaza, including a five-year-old boy and a soldier.

Blinken's comments came after UN Security Council diplomats and Muslim foreign ministers convened emergency weekend meetings to demand a stop to civilian bloodshed. Israeli warplanes carried out the deadliest single attacks on Sunday in the week of fighting.

The U.S., Israel's closest ally and provider of billions of dollars worth of "military aid," has so far rejected moves by China, Norway and Tunisia in the Security Council for a statement by the UN's most powerful body, including a call for the cessation of hostilities.