Pope Francis to meet Jordan's King Abdullah

Pope Francis will meet with Jordan's King Abdullah II at the Vatican next week in talks which will likely focus on US President Donald Trump's decision to recognise Jerusalem as Israel's capital.

Trump's recognition of Jerusalem as the Israeli capital - and his plans to move the US embassy there from Tel Aviv - effectively ignores Palestinian claims on the city and has led to widespread criticism and protest, particularly in the Arab world.

Israeli forces killed four Palestinians on Friday as demonstrations took place across the occupied Palestinian territories.

Eight Palestinians have now been killed since Trump's declaration on 6 December, while hundreds have been injured by Israeli forces during protests.

The uptick in violence has also seen rocket fire from Gaza and Israeli airstrikes on the besieged coastal enclave.

Pope Francis and King Abdullah - the custodian of Islamic holy sites in East Jerusalem's Old City - are likely to discuss the situation, though the Vatican never indicates topics of discussion for such meetings in advance.

On Sunday the pope called for "respect of the status quo" in Jerusalem and warned against "a new spiral of violence".

Abdullah has denounced the Jerusalem announcement as "a violation of international rights".

Israeli sovereignty over East Jerusalem has never been recognised internationally, and all countries maintain their embassies in Tel Aviv.

The UN has long maintained that the only way to forge peace is to have two states - Israel and Palestine - with Jerusalem as the capital of both and the borders returned to their status before the 1967 Arab-Israeli War.

East Jerusalem was annexed by Israel after the war, but before Trump's announcement it had not been internationally recognised as part of Israel.