Suspected Jewish extremists have slashed the tires of around 40 cars in an Arab village in northern Israel, police said Thursday.

The attack took place overnight in Jish, a predominately Christian village some 25 kilometers (15 miles) north of the Sea of Galilee, police spokeswoman Luba Samri said.

Israeli and Palestinian negotiators met their U.S. counterparts overnight Thursday to discuss ways to prevent the complete collapse of peace talks after both sides took steps Washington criticized as "unhelpful."

More than a year of shuttle diplomacy by Secretary of State John Kerry was in jeopardy after Israel made a new bid to expand settlements in annexed Arab east Jerusalem and the Palestinians took fresh steps toward seeking recognition of their promised state.

The White House said Wednesday it was disappointed by "unhelpful" actions by both Israelis and Palestinians that threaten to tear apart a U.S.-led peace effort.

Secretary of State John Kerry's bid to save peace talks is in peril after Israel announced plans for new settlement building and the Palestinians took steps towards seeking international recognition.

Here is a summary of the key issues that have bogged down eight-months of intensive U.S. efforts to achieve an Israeli-Palestinian peace agreement.

The talks are currently scheduled to end on April 29, although Washington is hoping to extend the process into 2015.

An Israeli military bulldozer crossed the electronic fence on the border with southern Lebanon on Wednesday, Lebanon's National News Agency said.

“An Israeli Caterpillar D9 bulldozer, protected by two Merkava tanks, crossed the electronic fence in the Qatmoun area that is adjacent to the agricultural fields in the border town of Rmeish,” NNA reported.

An Israeli minister on Wednesday warned of punitive action if the Palestinians pursued efforts to join U.N. agencies, as hopes of a breakthrough in the U.S.-led peace process faded rapidly.

In a surprise announcement late on Tuesday, Palestinian President Mahmud Abbas said he had begun steps to join 15 U.N. agencies, angering Israel and prompting U.S. Secretary of State John Kerry to cancel an imminent a trip to Ramallah.

A U.S. diplomat urged on Wednesday the Lebanese government to swiftly complete the necessary measures to kick off gas and oil exploration, denying that Israel is seeking to take Lebanon's share of its offshore natural resources.

“The Lebanese state should work swiftly to follow the other eastern Mediterranean countries,” U.S. Deputy Assistant Secretary of State for Energy Diplomacy Amos Hochstein said in an interview with As Safir newspaper.

U.S. Secretary of State John Kerry cancelled plans to travel Wednesday to Ramallah after both the Israelis and the Palestinians announced moves likely to scuttle the peace talks.

"We are no longer travelling tomorrow," a senior State Department official said, shortly after Palestinian president Mahmoud Abbas said the Palestinians would seek membership of 15 U.N. agencies.

President Barack Obama has so far made no decision to free U.S.-born Israeli spy Jonathan Pollard to boost hopes of extending peace talks between Israelis and Palestinians, the White House said Tuesday.

The Israelis have repeatedly asked Obama and previous U.S. presidents to release Pollard, who is serving his sentence in North Carolina for passing U.S. secrets on Arab and Pakistani weapons to Israel during the mid 1980s.

The Latin patriarch of Jerusalem condemned Tuesday an assault by vandals overnight on a Roman Catholic convent, demanding that police catch the perpetrators.

The vandals daubed "Mary is a cow" and "America (is) Nazi Germany" on the walls of the Deir Rafat convent and slashed the tires of five vehicles parked nearby, police spokeswoman Luba Samri said.