Jordan's tough stance towards Israel over Jerusalem's Al-Aqsa mosque reflects a determination to preserve its custodianship of the flashpoint site as well as its own stability, analysts say.

Israel eased restrictions at Jerusalem's Al-Aqsa mosque on Friday after U.S. Secretary of State John Kerry announced agreement on steps to reduce tensions at the flashpoint compound.

The site, which is holy to Jews as well as Muslims, has been the focus of months of unrest in annexed Arab east Jerusalem, that has spread to the occupied West Bank and Arab communities across Israel, raising fears of a new Palestinian uprising.

U.S. Secretary of State John Kerry said Thursday that steps were agreed at talks in Amman to lower tensions between the Israelis and Palestinians.

After talks with Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu and Jordan's King Abdullah II, Kerry said "firm commitments" had been made to maintain the status quo at holy sites in Israeli-annexed east Jerusalem.

U.S. Secretary of State John Kerry met Palestinian President Mahmud Abbas in Jordan on Thursday for talks aimed at calming a wave of violence gripping Israel and the occupied territories.

The meeting in Amman came hours after fresh clashes broke out in east Jerusalem where Israeli police fired tear gas, percussion bombs and rubber bullets to disperse Palestinian demonstrators.

United Nations Special Coordinator for Lebanon Derek Plumbly briefed on Wednesday the members of the Security Council on the implementation of resolution 1701.

Plumbly considered in his report that Hizbullah's arms are a “clear obstacle” facing the state, undermining its authority and preventing it from controlling all its territories.

Israel approved new settler homes in east Jerusalem on Wednesday despite mounting unrest, as U.S. Secretary of State John Kerry was set for talks with the Palestinian leader on easing tensions.

The new settlement construction was announced just hours after suspected Jewish extremists torched a West Bank mosque, in another development likely to inflame tempers in an already heated atmosphere.

Israel's parliament on Wednesday voted in favor of a draft bill which would ban the free distribution of Israel HaYom, a freesheet which solidly backs Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu.

A preliminary reading of the bill was passed by 43 in favor to 23 against with nine abstentions.

Jailed Palestinian leader Marwan Barghuti has been placed in solitary confinement after publishing a letter calling for a return to "armed resistance" against Israel, a Palestinian NGO said on Wednesday.

The Ramallah-based Palestinian Prisoners' Club said in a statement that Barghuti had been placed in solitary as a "punishment" for a letter published on Tuesday on the 10th anniversary of the death of veteran Palestinian leader Yasser Arafat.

An Israeli border policeman has been arrested on suspicion of firing live bullets which killed a young Palestinian during a West Bank demonstration in May, police sources said on Wednesday.

Nadeem Nuwarah, 17, was killed on May 15 during a day of clashes in Beitunia, southwest of Ramallah, between Israeli forces and Palestinian protesters marking the anniversary of the Nakba, or "catastrophe" of the 1948 creation of Israel.

Suspected extremists torched a West Bank mosque in an apparent revenge attack Wednesday, as the Palestinian leader and the U.S. top diplomat were to meet Jordan's King Abdullah over the spiraling violence.

Months of unrest have escalated in recent days, spreading from annexed east Jerusalem to the occupied West Bank and Arab communities across Israel, and raising fears of a new Palestinian uprising.