A visit to Israel by Dutch Prime Minister Mark Rutte Sunday was marred by a dispute over a new security scanner on the Gaza border, an Israeli official said.

Rutte was to have inaugurated the scanner on the frontier with the Palestinian Islamist-ruled enclave, but the ceremony was put off because of the row.

Economy Minister Naftali Bennett on Sunday proposed that Israel annex parts of the West Bank under its full military control where most Jewish settlers live.

"I favor implementation of Israeli sovereignty over the zone where 400,000 (settlers) live and only 70,000 Arabs," said the head of the far-right Jewish Home religious party in the ruling coalition.

U.S. Secretary of State John Kerry urged Israeli and Palestinian leaders to take inspiration from Nelson Mandela in peace talks, as he wrapped up another visit to the region Friday.

Kerry said Israel and the Palestinians were closer to peace than they have been in years, even though the direct negotiations he brokered have made little visible headway since they began in late July.

The death of South Africa's liberation leader Nelson Mandela has unleashed a heartfelt chorus of awed respect from across the worlds of politics, religion, sport and culture.

Statesmen, resistance leaders, Nobel laureates and prisoners of conscience have died before, but never has one man united such global unity in honoring his passing.

A top Palestinian negotiator on Thursday said peace talks with Israel were "difficult and complicated", after a meeting between Palestinian president Mahmoud Abbas and U.S. Secretary of State John Kerry.

"The situation is still very difficult and matters are complicated," Saeb Erakat told Agence France Presse.

Washington's top diplomat was holding talks on security with Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu on Thursday in their first meeting since a fallout over a nuclear deal struck with Iran.

U.S. Secretary of State John Kerry landed just before midnight (2200 GMT) on Wednesday for a trip aimed at giving momentum to the direct negotiations, which appear to have made little headway since they began under his patronage in late July.

Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu on Monday invited Palestinian president Mahmoud Abbas to address the Israeli parliament and publicly recognize Jewish links to the land of Israel.

"I call on him from here: let's break the deadlock. Come to the Israeli Knesset and I'll come to Ramallah," the Palestinian leader's West Bank headquarters.

Peace talks with Israel will continue for the full nine months as agreed with Washington "regardless of what happens on the ground", Palestinian president Mahmoud Abbas told Agence France Presse on Sunday.

In an exclusive interview at his Muqataa headquarters in Ramallah, the Palestinian leader also called for an international inquiry to determine who was responsible for the death of Yasser Arafat after scientists said it was likely he was poisoned.

Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu late Tuesday canceled plans to build 20,000 new settler homes in the West Bank, hours after their announcement sparked U.S. and Palestinian criticism.

Netanyahu ordered Israeli Housing Minister Uri Ariel "to reconsider all of the steps for evaluating planning potential (for the settler homes) that he distributed without any advance coordination," a statement from Netanyahu's office said.

Secretary of State John Kerry held talks with Jordan's king Thursday after reaffirming U.S. opposition to Israeli settlements, as the contentious issue threatens to derail the peace process.

The top U.S. diplomat met with King Abdullah II in Amman and was later to hold talks with Jordanian Foreign Minister Nasser Judeh.