WASHINGTON (Reuters) - Secretary of State John Kerry will meet Israeli Justice Minister Tzipi Livni, who has special responsibility for the Israeli-Palestinian peace process, in Rome on Wednesday, the U.S. State Department said on Monday. Kerry will also meet Jordanian Foreign Minister Nasser Judeh in Rome. The meetings are part of Kerry's effort to find a way to revive Israeli-Palestinian peace negotiations, which fell apart in 2010 in a dispute over Israel's construction of Jewish settlements on West Bank land the Palestinians want for a state.

Russian President Vladimir Putin and Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu were set Tuesday to hold talks on the conflict in Syria amid growing concern about Moscow's arms deliveries to the Damascus regime while the death toll spirals. Netanyahu is just the latest world leader to beat a path to Putin's door for talks on Syria in recent days, after US Secretary of State John Kerry and British Prime Minister David Cameron met the Russian strongman last week.

Russian President Vladimir Putin and Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu discussed Tuesday the conflict in Syria as concern grew about Moscow's arms deliveries to the Damascus regime and a spiralling death toll. "I certainly expect to speak with you about the situation in the region, including around Syria," Putin told Netanyahu at the start of the talks at the Russian leader's Black Sea residence in Sochi. "Together we can think about how to make it (the Middle East region) more secure and stable," Netanyahu replied in televised remarks.

Israeli plans to build 300 new homes in a West Bank settlement near Ramallah prove that Israel is trying to "sabotage" US efforts to revive peace talks, a top Palestinian official said on Thursday. "We condemn this new decision which is proof that the Israeli government wants to sabotage and ruin the US administration's efforts to revive the peace process," Palestinian negotiator Saeb Erakat told AFP.