US Secretary of State Antony Blinken heads back to the Middle East yesterday on a new push for an elusive Gaza ceasefire two weeks before US elections, seeing a new opportunity from Israel's killing of Hamas's leader.

It will be the 11th trip to the Middle East by the top US diplomat since war broke out a year ago, with Blinken on his last visit to Israel in August warning it may have been the "last chance" for a US-led ceasefire plan.

That push did not succeed, and the conflict has escalated and expanded since then, with Israel pounding Hezbollah targets in Lebanon and warning of a new strike directly on Iran, whose clerical leaders back both Hamas and Hezbollah.