A Hamas rocket exploded near Israel's main airport, prompting a ban on flights from the US and many from Europe and Canada.

The move came as aviation authorities responded to the shock of seeing a civilian jetliner shot down over Ukraine, while Israel declared that Ben-Gurion Airport was safe and said there was no reason to "hand terror a prize" by halting flights.

The rare flight ban came as Israel grappled with news that a soldier went missing after an attack in the Gaza Strip, raising the possibility he was abducted, a scenario that could complicate intense diplomatic efforts to end the two-week conflict.

Palestinian militants have fired more than 2,000 rockets toward Israel since fighting began on July 8, but most - including several heading toward Tel Aviv - fell harmlessly into open areas or were shot out of the sky by the "Iron Dome" defence system, keeping Israeli casualties low.

Yesterday's rocket attack was the closest to the airport so far, said police spokeswoman Luba Samri, and destroyed a house, slightly injuring one Israeli in the nearby Tel Aviv suburb of Yehud.

Aviation authorities reacted swiftly. The US Federal Aviation Administration prohibited American airlines from flying to Tel Aviv for 24 hours "due to the potentially hazardous situation created by the armed conflict in Israel and Gaza".

Later, the European Aviation Safety Agency issued an advisory to airlines saying it "strongly recommends" airlines avoid the airport.

Germany's Lufthansa, Air France, Air Canada, Alitalia, Dutch KLM, Britain's easyJet, Turkish Airlines and Greece's Aegean Airlines were among those carriers cancelling flights to Tel Aviv over safety concerns amid the increasing violence.

Israeli transportation minister Yisrael Katz called on the US aviation authority to reconsider, calling the flight ban "unnecessary" and saying the Iron Dome missile defence system provided cover for civil aviation.

"Ben-Gurion Airport is safe and completely guarded and there is no reason whatsoever that American companies would stop their flights and hand terror a prize," he said.

Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu raised the issue of the ban with US Secretary of State John Kerry, who was in the Middle East, State Department spokeswoman Jen Psaki said.

"The FAA's notice was issued to protect American citizens and American carriers. The only consideration in issuing the notice was the safety and security of our citizens," she said.

International airlines and passengers have grown more anxious about safety since last week, when a Malaysia Airlines jet was shot down over Ukraine, killing all 298 people on board.

While Hamas rockets are not guided missiles, they still can cause massive damage to an aircraft. For instance, unguided mortar fire in Tripoli from a militia fighting to control its international airport destroyed an Airbus A330 on the ground over the weekend.

The Tel Aviv airport is Israel's main gateway to the world and Hamas militants have said they hoped to target it to disrupt life in Israel.

Another Hamas objective was to abduct an Israeli soldier, and Israeli fears were revisited yesterday when the military announced that a soldier was missing following a deadly battle in Gaza, where the Israelis are fighting Hamas militants in the third such war in just over five years.

The military said Sergeant Oron Shaul was among seven soldiers in a vehicle that was hit by an anti-tank missile in a battle in Gaza over the weekend. The other six have been confirmed as dead.

Hamas claims to have abducted him and has flaunted his name and military ID number to try to back that claim.

Military officials say the soldier is almost certainly dead, but it would be a nightmare scenario for the Jewish state if even his remains were in the hands of Hamas.

Past abductions of Israeli soldiers have turned into painful drawn-out affairs and Israel has paid a heavy price in lopsided prisoner swaps to retrieve captured soldiers or remains held by its enemies.

Israeli airstrikes continued to pummel Gaza tunnels, rocket launchers and militants on the 15th day of the war as diplomatic efforts intensified to end fighting that has killed at least 630 Palestinians and 29 Israelis - 27 soldiers and two civilians.

Israel says its troops have killed hundreds of Hamas gunmen, while Gaza officials say the vast majority have been civilians, many of them children.

Israel says it is trying hard to avoid civilian casualties and blames Hamas for using civilians as "human shields".

Human rights activists say past confrontations have shown that when Israeli carries out attacks in densely populated Palestinian areas, civilian deaths are inevitable.

Egypt, Israel and the US back an unconditional ceasefire, to be followed by talks on a possible new border arrangement for Gaza.

Israel and Egypt have severely restricted movement in and out of Gaza since Hamas seized the territory in 2007. But Hamas has rejected repeated Egyptian truce proposals.

Both UN chief Ban Ki-moon and Mr Kerry were in the region to make the highest-level push yet to end the deadly conflict.

Mr Kerry met Egyptian President Abdel-Fattah el-Sissi and other senior officials in Cairo. He stopped short of advocating a new round of peace talks but left the door open for broad negotiations between Israel and Palestinian officials once a ceasefire is in place.

"Just reaching a ceasefire is clearly not enough," Mr Kerry said.

"It is imperative that there be a serious engagement, discussion, negotiation, regarding the underlying issues and addressing all the concerns that have brought us to where we are today."

Hamas, with backing from its allies Qatar and Turkey, says it wants guarantees on lifting the blockade before halting its fire.

Israel launched a massive air campaign on July 8 to stop relentless Hamas rocket fire into Israel.

It expanded it to a ground war last week aimed at destroying tunnels the military says Hamas has constructed from Gaza into Israel for attacks against Israelis.

Israel has struck almost 3,000 sites in Gaza, killed more than 180 armed Palestinians and uncovered 66 access shafts of 23 tunnels, the military said.

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