GAZA STRIP, Palestinian Territories, Jan  10, 2024 (BSS/AFP) - 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.