Following a meeting in Berlin with Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu, US Secretary of State John Kerry has expressed “cautious optimism” that there may be a way to diffuse the tension between the Israelis and the Palestinians.

Mr Kerry said: “I would characterize that conversation as one that gave me a cautious measure of optimism that there may be some things that could be put on the table in the next couple of days.”

These, he said, “would have an impact, I hope, on the perceptions of everybody engaged that there is a way to defuse the situation and begin a way forward.”

In another development, Israeli news site Walla reported that Jordan and the Palestinians have rejected an offer by Mr Kerry to convene a summit with Mr Netanyahu.

According to the report, Mr Abbas is refusing point blank to meet Netanyahu, and Jordan’s King Abdullah fears a public backlash.

Mr Netanyahu also met European High Representative for Foreign Affairs Federica Mogherini in Berlin today to discuss the situation on the ground. The Israeli PM told Ms Mogherini that stopping terror required stopping incitement.

Today in New York, the UN Security Council is holding an emergency meeting on Israeli-Palestinian violence.

At the meeting, Jan Eliasson, deputy secretary general of the UN, condemned “in the strongest terms all attacks against Israelis and Palestinians alike.”

But he added that the violence would not have occurred if it were not for the “stifling and humiliating occupation.”
Also today, UN head Ban Ki-moon met Jordan’s King Abdullah to brief him on his recent meetings with Benjamin Netanyahu and Mahmoud Abbas.

“The Secretary-General noted the responsibility of Arab leaders to encourage calm and to ensure that this crisis does not get out of control,” a UN spokesperson said in a statement.