The US secretary of state, Antony Blinken, has told the Palestinian leader Mahmoud Abbas that the Palestinian Authority should play a central role in what comes next in the Gaza Strip, according a senior state department official.
The latest diplomacy emerged as Gaza was rocked by a series of huge explosions on Sunday evening and communications with the coastal strip were cut. Journalists inside Gaza and watching from the Israeli border described intense Israeli strikes with video showing towering explosions lighting up the night sky.
