An Islamic State group attack killed at least 14 soldiers aboard a military bus in the Syrian desert on Tuesday, a war monitor said.

"At least 14 members of the regime forces were killed" and several others wounded "in a bloody IS attack on a military bus," in the desert near the ancient city of Palmyra, the Syrian Observatory for Human Rights said.

Hamas chief Ismail Haniyeh called on Muslim states on Tuesday to provide Palestinian militants with weapons, as the group's war with Israel rages in the Gaza Strip.

"We see countries of the world pouring weapons into the occupation (Israel)... The time has come (for Muslim states) to support the resistance with weapons, because this is... not the battle of the Palestinian people alone," Haniyeh said in a speech in Doha, according to a transcript shared by the group with journalists.

U.S. Secretary of State Antony Blinken has said that four key Arab nations and Turkey have agreed to begin planning for the reconstruction and governance of Gaza once Israel's war against Hamas ends.

Blinken, who is on an urgent Mideast mission aimed primarily at preventing the conflict from spreading as fears rise of a regional war, said Saudi Arabia, Jordan, Qatar, the United Arab Emirates and Turkey would consider participating in and contributing to "day after" scenarios for the Palestinian territory, which has been devastated by three months of deadly Israeli bombardment.

U.S. Secretary of State Antony Blinken held talks in Israel on Tuesday as he seeks a plan for Gaza's post-war future, while Israel's military pushed ahead with its offensive in the beleaguered territory. Heavy bombardment and fighting shook refugee camps, sending Palestinians scrambling to find safety and hampering aid groups' efforts to get relief to the population.

Blinken arrived in Israel after saying he had secured commitments from four Arab nations and Turkey to help in rebuilding Gaza after the war, something they'd been reluctant to promise before a stop in fighting.

Top U.S. diplomat Antony Blinken was set to meet Israeli leaders Tuesday as part of efforts to contain the war in Gaza, a day after strikes in Syria and Lebanon killed high-profile members of Hamas and its ally Hezbollah.

The visit comes as the Israeli military said its campaign against Hamas in the Gaza Strip was shifting into a new phase involving more targeted operations in the territory's centre and south.

Medics, patients and displaced people are fleeing from the main hospital in central Gaza as the fighting between Israeli forces and Palestinian militants draws closer, witnesses said Monday. Losing the facility would be another major blow to a health system shattered by three months of war.

Doctors Without Borders and other aid groups withdrew from Al-Aqsa Martyrs Hospital in Deir al-Balah in recent days, saying it is too dangerous. That spread panic among people sheltering there, causing many to join the hundreds of thousands who have fled to the south of the besieged territory.

U.S. Secretary of State Antony Blinken has opened his third day of meetings on an urgent Mideast diplomatic mission to prevent Israel's war against Hamas in Gaza from exploding into a broader regional conflict.

Blinken was meeting Monday with United Arab Emirates leader Sheikh Mohammed bin Zayed before traveling to Saudi Arabia for talks with Saudi Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman aimed at enlisting the key Arab leaders in a push to not only keep the war contained but also prepare for post-conflict Gaza's future.

Israeli police have opened fire at a pair of suspected attackers who rammed their car into a West Bank checkpoint, fatally shooting a young Palestinian girl in an adjacent vehicle, according to police and medical officials.

The two suspects were also shot, while a young police officer was lightly hurt. The Sunday evening incident came hours after nine people were killed in other unrest in the occupied territory, which has experienced a surge of violence since Israel's war against Hamas erupted on Oct. 7.

Missiles, rockets and drones struck targets around the Middle East this week as the United States, Israel and others clashed with Iran-allied militant groups — with attacks hitting in vital Red Sea shipping lanes, along Israeli-Lebanon borders emptied by fleeing residents and around the region's crowded capitals and U.S. military installations.

Together, Israel and its U.S. allies were facing two realities they knew all too well going into the war in Gaza: The Gaza-based Hamas militant group is far from alone as it battles for its survival. And by launching an all-out campaign to eliminate Hamas as a fighting force, Israeli and American leaders also are confronting simultaneous attacks from a strengthening defensive alliance of other armed militant groups linked with Hamas and Iran.

German Foreign Minister Annalena Baerbock has urged Israel to ease its military campaign in Gaza and do more to protect civilians in the besieged Palestinian territory.

Germany has been one of Israel's most steadfast supporters since the start of the conflict with Hamas, but Baerbock warned that Israel's security also depended on limiting civilian deaths.