The Israeli and Palestinian finance ministers were meeting on Sunday for talks aimed at resuming economic contacts suspended by Israel last year, both sides said. The meeting between newly-appointed Palestinian minister Shukri Bishara and Israel's Yair Lapid, who took office in March, was scheduled for 3.00 pm (1200 GMT), the Palestinian finance ministry said.

Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu said on Tuesday that Israel has foiled five suicide bombings and many other "terrorist" attacks since the start of the year. Shin Bet, the domestic security service, and the army had prevented the bombings and 30 attempted kidnappings of soldiers, Netanyahu told visiting Colombian President Juan Manuel Santos. "We have fought terrorism for many years... including this year when five attempted suicide attacks were thwarted along with 30 attempted kidnappings and many other terrorist attacks," he was quoted as saying in a statement.

US Secretary of State John Kerry, who was to return to the region this week for talks with Israelis and Palestinians, has postponed his visit, Israeli media reported on Monday. According to Israel HaYom, a newspaper considered close to Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu, Kerry had been due to arrive on Tuesday, but put off the visit "to give (Palestinian president Mahmud Abbas) more time" to decide whether to drop his insistence on a settlement freeze before returning to negotiations. Kerry was likely to reschedule his visit for the following week, it said.

Peace between Israel and the Palestinians is a "priority," British Foreign Secretary William Hague said on a visit to the region on Thursday, warning that time was running out for a two-state solution. "The prospects of a two-state solution cannot be kept alive forever as the situation changes," he told reporters from the seat of the Palestinian presidency in the West Bank city Ramallah. "The two-state solution does not have much longer, there is not much more time in which it could be brought about," he emphasised.