US Secretary of State Antony Blinken arrived in Tel Aviv on Sunday on a Middle East tour aimed at intensifying diplomatic pressure to achieve a ceasefire in Gaza this week to end the bloodshed between Israel and Palestinian resistance group Hamas.

On his 10th trip to the region since the war began in October, Blinken will meet today with senior Israeli leaders including Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu, a senior State Department official said.

After Israel, Blinken will continue onto Egypt, where he is expected on Tuesday.

The talks to strike a deal for a truce and return of hostages held in Gaza were now at an "inflection point", a senior Biden administration official told reporters en route to Tel Aviv, adding Blinken was going to stress to all parties the importance of getting this deal over the finish line.

The mediating countries - Qatar, the United States and Egypt - have been trying to narrow enough differences to reach an agreement in months of on-off negotiations, and violence continued unabated in Gaza on Sunday.

Netanyahu's office said on Sunday that he still insists Israeli forces remain on a border strip that runs between Gaza and Egypt known as the Philadelphi Corridor, in order to prevent weapons being smuggled into Gaza.

The talks towards a ceasefire are set to continue this week in Cairo, following a two-day meeting in Doha last week. Blinken will try to reach a breakthrough after the U.S. put forward bridging proposals that the mediating countries believe would close gaps between the warring parties.

There has been increased urgency to reach a ceasefire deal amid fears of escalation across the wider region. Iran has threatened to retaliate against Israel after the assassination of Hamas leader Ismail Haniyeh in Tehran on July 31.