The US Secretary of State John Kerry has won the support of the Arab League in his attempt to restart peace talks between Israelis and Palestinians.

On Wednesday, Mr Kerry met with members of the Arab League in Jordan and nine members said they supported an Arab-Israeli peace plan put forward by Saudi Arabia.

The plan promises peace with 22 Arab nations and 35 Muslim nations. It is based on a 2002 Saudi proposal that offered full recognition of Israel if it in turn agrees to pre-1967 borders and a "just solution" for Palestinian refugees.

However, the possibility of land swaps has been raised in relation to the current version of the plan.

After the meeting, Mr Kerry said he felt the two sides were getting closer to restarting talks. He said: “When this process started several months ago, there were very wide gaps, very significant gaps, between the two sides.

“Through hard and deliberate, patient work, and most importantly through quiet work we have been able to narrow those gaps very significantly.”