Foreign minister Bert Koenders has asked Israel’s prime minister to restart peace talks with the Palestinians.

Koenders met Benjamin Netanyahu on Tuesday during a three-day visit to Israel and Palestina.

‘There is an urgent need for a favourable climate in which the two parties can breathe new life into the peace process,’ Koenders said.

He also urged Netanyahu to stop building new settlements on the West Bank and to do more to improve the economic situation in Gaza. The people in Gaza should be able to do ‘more and freely’, the Telegraaf reports.

Last week the UN refugee organisation for Palestina (Unrwa) said not one of the 12,000 houses destroyed in last year’s bombardment has been rebuilt.