JERUSALEM: US Secretary of State Antony Blinken said on Wednesday `now is the time` to end the Gaza conflict, and urged Israel to avoid further escalation with Iran.

Blinken`s visit to the region is his lith since the Gaza conflict erupted and his first since IsraelHezbollah violence escalated to all-out war last month. Previous US efforts to end the conflict and contain its regional fallout have failed.

Blinken said Israel had `achieved most of its strategic objectives` in Gaza and now needed to build on those gains. `Now is the time to turn those successes into enduring, strategic success,` Blinken said as he left Israel, after meetings with Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu and other top officials.

Addressing Israel`s pledge to retaliate for Iran`s Oct 1 attack, he said: `It`s also very important that Israel respond in ways that do not create greater escalation.` After Israel, Blinken began a visit to Saudi Arabia, which has put on hold talks towards anormalisation deal with Israel until a Palestinian state is created.

Blinken renewed his bid to broker diplomatic ties between them, urging Israel to seize an `incredible opportunity in this region to move in a totally different direction`. Next, he is to travel to Qatar and Britain, where he will hold talks on the Gaza and Lebanon conflicts.

On aid to Gaza, Blinken said he saw `progress being made, which is good, but more progress needs to be made and, most critically, it needs to be sustained`. His remarks come as concerns rise for tens of thousands of civilians trapped by fighting in the hard-to-reach north.

Israel launched a major air and ground assault in northern Gaza this month, vowing to stop Hamas. The only medical facility still partially functioning in the targeted area has `no medicine or medical supplies`, warned Hossam Abu Safia, the director of Kamal Adwan Hospital. `People are being killed in the streets, and we can`t help them. Bodies are lying on the streets.`-AFP