Israeli negotiator and Justice Minister Tzipi Livni hailed U.S. Secretary of State John Kerry's announcement Friday on an agreement for the basis to resume peace talks with the Palestinians.

"These were long months of scepticism and cynicism," she said in a statement. "But now, four years of diplomatic stagnation are about to end."

Israel deployed its Iron Dome missile defense system near the Red Sea resort of Eilat, which is close to the border with Egypt, an army spokeswoman said.

"An Iron Dome battery was deployed this morning in Eilat," the spokeswoman told Agence France Presse.

Israel met the British and French ambassadors and Germany's deputy envoy over EU plans to ban its 28 members from dealing with Jewish settlements, a top official said on Friday.

The envoys were warned of a serious crisis between the European Union and Israel over the move, the high-ranking foreign ministry official told Agence France Presse.

U.S. Secretary of State John Kerry said Friday Israeli and Palestinian negotiators will meet in Washington within "the next week or so" after an agreement on the basis to resume peace talks.

The announcement came after he spent four days consulting the Israeli and Palestinian leadership -- and a last-minute helicopter dash to Ramallah in the West Bank.

Angry refugees Thursday urged the United States to do more to end the war in Syria as they met top U.S. diplomat John Kerry during a landmark visit to the Zaatari camp in Jordan.

Kerry first overflew the camp by helicopter, surveying thousands of tents and trailers lined up on the desert sand about 20 kilometers (12.4 miles) from the Syrian border in what has now become the fifth largest city in Jordan.

Palestinian politicians rebuffed on Thursday a hard-fought blueprint for resumed talks with Israel thrashed out by U.S. Secretary of State John Kerry in a blow to his marathon peace efforts.

A U.S. official had warned that Kerry was unlikely to be able to announce any breakthrough on resuming direct peace negotiations with the Palestinians despite extending until Friday his sixth visit to the region in as many months.

President Michel Suleiman received a message on Thursday from Iran's president-elect Hassan Rowhani thanking the Lebanese head of state for congratulating him on his election, and hoping for better bilateral relations.

The note that was delivered by Iran's Ambassador Ghazanfar Roknabadi was in response to Suleiman's congratulatory message on Rowhani's June election.

Israeli President Shimon Peres urged the EU on Thursday to delay stopping funding of projects involving settlements in the occupied territories as Palestinians and Israelis inch toward fresh peace talks.

"The coming days are critical," his office quoted him as saying. "Wait with your decision, give priority to peace."

The Israeli military is preparing to lift some restrictions on Palestinian movement in advance of possible renewed peace talks, army radio said on Thursday.

"It appears that in the next few days the future of negotiations between Israel and the Palestinians will be determined," its reporter for the Palestinian territories reported.

Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu warned Washington on Wednesday that EU moves to end dealings with Jewish settlements were harming its peace talks drive, an Israeli official said.

In a telephone call with Secretary of State John Kerry, who is in neighboring Jordan on his latest bid to revive direct negotiations between Israel and the Palestinians, Netanyahu warned that the EU was "damaging efforts to restart the talks."