Abbas to meet Kerry in Amman on Thursday

Palestinian president Mahmoud Abbas is to meet Washington's top diplomat to discuss the upsurge in violence in east Jerusalem and the West Bank, his spokesman confirmed on Wednesday.

The meeting with US Secretary of State John Kerry is scheduled to take place in the Jordanian capital at 1:00 pm local time (1100 GMT) on Thursday, Nabil Abu Rudeina said.

Kerry was due to arrive in Jordan later on Wednesday and have a private dinner King Abdullah II, State Department spokeswoman Jen Psaki said, at which the two men will discuss the simmering tensions in annexed east Jerusalem and other regional issues. 

So far no meeting with Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu has been scheduled although Kerry speaks with him "probably almost every day and he'll continue to do that," Psaki said.

Kerry's arrival comes as Israel struggles to contain a wave of unrest which has gripped east Jerusalem for the past four months and has spread to the occupied West Bank as well as to Arab towns in Israel, prompting fears of a new Palestinian uprising.

On Wednesday, Israel approved 200 new settler homes in the east Jerusalem neighbourhood of Ramot, an neighbourhood with an estimated 60,000 residents, according to an Israeli real estate agency.

Brachie Sprung, a spokeswoman in the mayor's office, said Wednesday's approval was a preliminary stage of the planning process with construction years away. Sprung also said city officials approved an additional 174 homes for construction in an Arab neighborhood.

Much of the tension has been focused on Jerusalem's flashpoint Al-Aqsa mosque compound, a site holy to Muslims and Jews, which has seen numerous clashes sparked by Palestinian fears that Israel is preparing to legislate changes to the status quo to allow Jewish prayer there. 

"The Palestinian position will be made crystal clear: the Israeli violations are a red line and cannot be tolerated - especially with the tension and Israeli escalation in Al-Aqsa and Jerusalem," Abu Rudeina said.

Clashes at the mosque compound have drawn sharp criticism from both the Palestinians and Jordan, which has custodial rights at the shrine. Earlier this month, Jordan summoned its Israeli envoy back to Amman after clashes between Palestinian worshippers and Israeli border police at the entrance of the mosque. 

While Israel has repeatedly pledged it has no plans to alter the decades-old status quo, Israel's envoy to Jordan told the Wall Street Journal late last week that promises to maintain the status quo were inadequate to calm the enflamed relations between the two countries. 

“Imams are saying the Jews are conquering or penetrating Al Aqsa . . . It’s enough to put all this peace treaty in jeopardy,’’ Ambassador Daniel Nevo said.

Abbas' spokesperson said he will also tell Kerry that the Palestinians will not be deterred from plans to present a draft resolution to the UN Security Council this month, seeking to set an end date for Israeli occupation.

"President Abbas will also affirm . . . that the Palestinian side is going to the Security Council this month to call for an end date for Israeli occupation because the situation has become explosive and it cannot wait," he said. 

Kerry had also been scheduled to go to the United Arab Emirates, but that visit has been cancelled, Psaki said without elaborating.