**The White House has announced that President Barack Obama will meet Israeli and Palestinian leaders on Tuesday.**Mr Obama will first hold separate talks with Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu and the Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas.
The three men will then hold a session of joint discussions.
This comes after US envoy George Mitchell’s latest round of shuttle diplomacy ended without agreement.
Mr Mitchell met Mr Netanyahu in Jerusalem on Friday in a fresh attempt at getting a deal on Jewish settlement activity.
He also went to the West Bank to talk to Mr Abbas.
Mr Mitchell was hoping for a consensus before all sides attend the UN General Assembly in New York next week.
But he returned to the US without reaching any agreement.
The White House statement said that Tuesday’s talks would “lay the groundwork” for a new round of peace negotiations.
The US is seeking a moratorium on settlement building that would be acceptable to the Palestinian side.
Mr Abbas and the US administration have been demanding a complete freeze on Israeli construction activity.
Mr Netanyahu had previously offered a temporary freeze for several months, but not in East Jerusalem or in cases where homes have already been approved.
“There is a slowdown in settlement construction, but not a freeze,” he said. “There are 2,400 units being built, and their construction will continue.”