AMMAN: Top US diplomat John Kerry mounted a diplomatic push Thursday to calm surging tensions in Jerusalem through talks in Amman with Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu and Jordan’s king.

The meeting at King Abdallah’s palace came hours after talks between the US secretary of state and Palestinian president Mahmud Abbas.

“They will focus on ways to restore calm and de-escalate tensions in Jerusalem,” State Department deputy spokeswoman Marie Harf said ahead of the talks in the Jordanian capital.

The flurry of diplomatic activity followed new clashes in east Jerusalem where Israeli police fired tear gas, sound bombs and rubber bullets to disperse Palestinian demonstrators.

On Wednesday Israel approved plans for another 200 settler homes in annexed east Jerusalem — a move sharply criticized by Washington. Kerry and a sombre-looking Abbas embraced and had a brief whispered exchange as they met at the Palestinian leader’s hillside villa in Amman where the US and Palestinian flags hung in front of a large night-time photo of Jerusalem’s flashpoint Al-Aqsa mosque.