US President Joe Biden's top adviser on the Middle East is in the region for meetings with Egypt, Jordan, Oman and the United Arab Emirates, the White House said on Thursday.
The official, Brett McGurk, is traveling as part of a multiple-agency trip to the region as Washington has expressed concern over a surge in violence in Israel and the West Bank, which the Palestinians want as the core of a future state.
Gaza militants fired rockets and Israel carried out airstrikes in a cross-border exchange on Thursday, after 11 Palestinians were killed a day earlier during an Israeli raid in the occupied West Bank, renewing concerns of a broader escalation.
Mediation efforts were under way by Egypt and the United Nations to calm the situation, officials said, as UN Middle East envoy Tor Wennesland arrived in Gaza to meet Hamas leaders.
