UN Secretary-General Antonio Guterres (L) meets with Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu in Jerusalem, on Aug. 28, 2017. (Xinhua/JINI)
JERUSALEM, Aug. 28 (Xinhua) -- UN Secretary General Antonio Guterres met with Israeli leaders Monday on his first visit since taking office, with long-stalled peace bid high on the agenda, local media reported.
Guterres is likely to seek to push Israel and Palestinian leaders closer to renewed talks on their decades-old conflict during his three-day visit that ends Wednesday.
After meeting Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu on Monday, Guterres is due in Ramallah on Tuesday for talks with Palestinian Prime Minister Rami Hamdallah.
Palestinian president Mahmud Abbas is visiting Turkey and is not expected to meet Guterres during the trip. Guterres will then travel to the Gaza Strip on Wednesday.
After arriving on Sunday evening, the UN chief met Jason Greenblatt, a top aide to US President Donald Trump charged with pursuing Israeli-Palestinian peace efforts.
Peace efforts have been at a standstill since April 2014 and Israeli settlement building in the occupied West Bank has continued.
The two-state solution envisions an independent Palestinian state alongside Israel and has been the focus of international diplomacy.
