Blinken meets Palestinian leader as Israel keeps bombing Gaza

US top diplomat Antony Blinken on Wednesday met the head of the Palestinian Authority and travelled to Bahrain on his Middle East tour aimed at stopping the
Israel-Hamas war from escalating.

The Israeli military said it killed dozens of "terrorists" and hit another 150 targets in Hamas-run Gaza, where the health ministry said 147 people had been killed over the previous 24 hours.

The bloodiest ever Gaza war has raged since the unprecedented Hamas attacks against Israel on October 7 and killed more than 23,000 people in the besieged Palestinian territory, according to its health ministry.

Palestinian president Mahmud Abbas spoke with Blinken of the need "to stop the Israeli aggression against Palestinian people" in Gaza and the occupied
West Bank, which has also been torn by deadly unrest, said the official Palestinian news agency Wafa.

Blinken told Abbas that Washington supports "tangible steps" towards the creation of a Palestinian state -- a long-term goal which Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu‍‍`s hard-right government has opposed.

The secretary of state reiterated the US position that a Palestinian state must stand alongside Israel, "with both living in peace and security", said State Department spokesman Matthew Miller.

As Blinken arrived under tight security at Abbas‍‍`s headquarters in Ramallah, protesters held up signs reading "Stop the genocide", "Free Palestine" and "Blinken out". Some scuffled with Palestinian security forces in riot gear.

In Bahrain, Blinken said Abbas was "committed" to reforming the Palestinian Authority to provide "effective" governance for his people.

Blinken was in the Gulf state for talks with King Hamad on preventing a regional escalation of the war, according to the State Department.

Abbas and Egyptian President Abdel Fattah al-Sisi arrived in the Jordanian city of Aqaba to discuss with King Abdullah II a "push for an immediate ceasefire" in Gaza, Jordan‍‍`s royal palace said.

Washington sees a future in Gaza for the PA, whose ruling Fatah faction is a rival of Hamas. But Netanyahu has long sought to weaken the semi-autonomous
body.

- Red Sea clashes spike -

Since the Gaza war started, fears have grown of a widening conflict between Israel and Iran-backed armed groups, especially Lebanon‍‍`s Hezbollah but also
groups in Syria, Iraq and Yemen.

Yemen‍‍`s Huthi rebels have carried out numerous attacks on merchant ships in the Red Sea, a vital artery for international trade.

The United States has set up a multinational naval task force to protect shipping from the attacks, which Blinken on Wednesday said were "aided and abetted" by Iran.

On Tuesday, the rebels "launched a complex" attack, US Central Command said, adding that US and British forces had shot down 18 drones and three missiles, with no casualties or damage reported.

The Huthis later said they had fired a "large number" of missiles and drones at a US ship, with an adviser telling AFP it was the largest such attack since their campaign started.

British Defence Secretary Grant Shapps warned the Huthis of "consequences" if they continued their "illegal attacks".

- ‍‍`Sacrificed our children‍‍` -

The war started when Hamas launched its unprecedented October 7 attack, which resulted in about 1,140 deaths in Israel, mostly civilians, according to an AFP tally based on official figures.

Militants also took around 250 hostages, of whom Israel says 132 remain in Gaza including at least 25 believed to have been killed.

Israel has responded with a relentless military campaign that has killed at least 23,357 people, mostly women and children, according to the Gaza health
ministry.

The Israeli army says 186 of its soldiers have been killed inside Gaza in its campaign to destroy Hamas.

The Palestinian Red Crescent Society said an Israeli strike on an ambulance in central Gaza killed four medics and two other passengers on Wednesday, as
the territory‍‍`s health system collapses during Israel‍‍`s siege and bombardment.

Israel‍‍`s military did not immediately comment on the incident when contacted by AFP.

The United Nations estimates 1.9 million Gazans have been displaced inside the territory that had already endured years of blockade and poverty before the war triggered an acute humanitarian crisis.

Blinken -- while voicing continued US support for top regional ally Israel -- has urged steps to reduce the suffering.

Dire shortages of food, water, fuel and medicine mean the "daily toll on civilians in Gaza, particularly children, is far too high", Blinken said Tuesday.

The World Health Organization called the humanitarian situation in Gaza "indescribable" on Wednesday and pleaded Israel to allow more aid deliveries.

Desperate Gazans on Tuesday climbed onto one truck carrying flour and canned goods and tossed the food to the crowd below, AFP footage showed.

Army spokesman Daniel Hagari has said Israel was "ready and willing to facilitate as much humanitarian aid as the world will give".

One of the many displaced Palestinians, Hassan Kaskin, 55, said: "We have lost our money, our houses, our jobs. We are losing our youths as well. "We‍‍`ve sacrificed our children for our homeland."

- US crisis diplomacy -

Blinken is on his fourth tour of the Middle East since the outbreak of the war, and was due to head to Egypt, after earlier stops in Turkey, Saudi Arabia and the United Arab Emirates.

Washington has floated a post-war scenario in which a reformed Palestinian Authority governs Gaza as well as towns and cities in the West Bank.

A post-war plan outlined by Defence Minister Yoav Gallant envisions local "civil committees" governing Gaza after Israel has dismantled Hamas.

Hamas, an Islamist movement, seized sole control of the Gaza Strip in 2007, ousting Abbas‍‍`s Fatah party, with which it had shared power after sweeping parliamentary elections.

The United States and European Union have blacklisted Hamas as a "terrorist" organisation.

Hamas‍‍`s Qatar-based chief Ismail Haniyeh said last week he was "open to the idea" of a single Palestinian administration in Gaza and the West Bank.