Russian Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov and US Secretary of State John Kerry share a chuckle in Rome. Source: AFP

The escalation came as US Secretary of State John Kerry launched a flurry of meetings to revive the stalled peace process, amid a Europe-led drive towards recognition of Palestinian statehood at the UN.

The US has used its veto at the UN to block moves it sees as anti-Israel, but officials said Mr Kerry was seeking to learn more about the European position.

Seizing the momentum, senior Palestine Liberation Organisation member Wassel Abu Yussef yesterday said they would present a draft UN resolution in the coming days on ending the Israeli occupation by late 2016.

“The Palestinian leadership took a decision to go to the Security Council next Wednesday to vote on their project to end the ­occupation,” Mr Yussef said after a meeting in Ramallah.

Mr Kerry kicked off his trip with three hours of talks with ­Russian Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov in Rome late on Sunday which “focused primarily on ­recent developments in the ­Middle East, including about possible action at the UN Security Council”, a senior State Department official said.

“I believe the Middle East issue is crucial for making sure that we don’t allow the situation to degrade further,” Mr Lavrov said as he met with Mr Kerry in the US ambassador’s residence in Rome.

Since the collapse of Mr Kerry’s peace bid in April and the 50-day war in the Gaza strip, there has been growing international concern about rising Israeli-­Palestinian tensions amid a slew of attacks.

After Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu, whom Mr Kerry was to meet in Rome today, called elections for March, some Europeans have pointed to a ­narrow window of opportunity to push a Palestinian resolution at the UN Security Council.

Washington has long opposed unilateral Palestinian moves to win recognition for a state of ­Palestine at the UN, but US ­officials said they drew a distinction between a unilateral step, and an effort to draw up a multilateral resolution at the Security Council, which would have the backing of many nations.

There is a growing US recognition too of impatience with the status quo, as several European parliaments have called on their governments to recognise a state of Palestine.

“Our overall goal here is to hear from and engage with other stakeholders ... to hear their views and to the best of our ability work towards a common path forward,” a State Department official said.

“We all want to keep open the hope of a two-state solution and we all want to prevent ... an escalation of the violence on the ground.”

Mr Kerry will also meet today in Paris with French, German and British foreign ministers and the new EU foreign policy chief Federica Mogherini. He will then fly to London to meet chief ­Palestinian negotiator Saeb ­Erakat and the secretary-general of the Arab League tonight.

Jordan last month circulated a draft Palestinian text setting ­November 2016 as a deadline for the end of the occupation. But the text ran into opposition from the US because it set a two-year timetable for the withdrawal of the ­Israeli army from the West Bank.

“That’s not the way I think that we would look at handling a very complicated security negotiation by mandating a deadline of two years,” the US official said.

Mr Netanyahu seized on the hostage siege in Australia as proof that Israel had to uphold its security in its turbulent region.

“In the reality in which Islamic terrorism is reaching out to all ­corners of the globe, we will rebuff any attempt that would put this terrorism inside our home,” he said. “We will stand firm in the face of any diktat.”

France last month put together with Britain and Germany a resolution to win consensus at the 15-member council. The new text would call for a ­return to negotiations with a view to achieving a two-state solution. But the US ­official said there did not yet ­appear to be any European agreement on a draft resolution.

“There’s a draft, a paper, that the French floated around, but it by no means represents a consensus European position.”

AFP