Clinton calls for de-escalation of Gaza conflict in talks with Netanyahu

US Secretary of State Hillary Rodham Clinton expressed “rock solid” support for Israel’s security while calling for a de-escalation of the conflict in Gaza where fighting on Wednesday entered its eigth day, despite signs of an emerging truce.

The top US diplomat flew in for talks with Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu as efforts continued across the region to refine an elusive accord to end a week of violence that has cost 136 Palestinian and five Israeli lives.

The Israeli army confirmed its first fatality from rocket attacks on Tuesday, and a civilian contractor working for the defence ministry was also killed, as a longer-range missile landed near Jerusalem and one hit a building in metropolitan Tel Aviv.

The unrelenting violence also claimed the lives of 26 more Palestinians and witnessed an Israeli strike on an eight-storey building housing AFP’s Gaza City offices, causing no injuries, in the fourth strike on a media building in three days.

In a late-night meeting in Jerusalem, Clinton told Netanyahu that Washington’s commitment to Israeli security was “rock solid and unwavering”.

But she also stressed that this “is why we believe it is essential to de-escalate the situation” in the Palestinian territory.