Secretary of State John Kerry is scheduled this week to meet with Israeli and Palestinian leaders. (Creative Commons)

Kerry, on his third trip to the Middle East in a month, stopped by the West Bank, where he had a one-hour meeting with Palestinian Authority President Mahmoud Abbas in Ramallah. The top U.S. diplomat also had a one-on-one talk in Turkey with Prime Minister Recep Tayyip Erdogan.

Israel's Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu had apologized to Turkey for "any errors that could have led to the loss of life" during a 2010 raid on an aid flotilla that tried to break the Israeli blockade of the Gaza Strip. Kerry said Israel and Turkey must stick to an agreement to end a nearly three-year estrangement in order for wider peacemaking efforts in the region to make significant progress.

During his discussions with leaders in the West Bank and Turkey, Kerry brought up a plan endorsed by the Arab League over a decade ago aimed to stabilize relations with Israel in exchange for the withdrawal from all lands occupied during the 1967 Mideast war, a Turkish official said on condition of anonymity. Abbas has said that negotiations with the Jewish state are off the table until Israel halts construction of settlements in the West Bank.

“As we know, no peace process is easy. It always takes courage and determination, the willingness to speak out to overcome years of mistrust and of bloodshed, and this moment is no different,” Kerry said earlier Sunday in Istanbul.

Kerry was scheduled to meet with Israel and Palestinian leaders in Jerusalem on Monday and Tuesday.

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