TEL AVIV (AFP) - US Secretary of State Hillary Clinton arrived in Israel on Tuesday for talks with Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu aimed at helping forge a truce with Hamas in Gaza, the State Department said.

After meeting Mr Netanyahu in Jerusalem on Tuesday night, Mrs Clinton is scheduled to meet Palestinian leaders in the West Bank on Wednesday morning before heading to Cairo for talks the same day with President Mohamed Morsi.

The Egyptian leader, a key ally of Gaza's Islamist rulers Hamas, is playing a key role in efforts to mediate an end to a week of Israeli strikes and Palestinian rocket fire that has left more than 130 people dead.