At a press conference held at UN Headquarters in Geneva after the meeting, Mr. Brahimi spoke alongside Russian Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov and United States Secretary of State John Kerry. The two Government officials have been meeting in Geneva since Thursday discussing a Russian proposal for Syria to place its chemical weapons under international control.

“The work you are doing is extremely important in itself … but also important for all those working with you to bring forward the Geneva conference successfully,” Mr. Brahimi told reporters, referring to the long-proposed international peace conference on Syria commonly referred to as “Geneva II.”

Mr. Brahimi has been hard at work on the diplomatic front to bring the conference to fruition, including in discussions last week at the G20 Summit in St. Petersburg. The goal of a second Geneva conference would to be to achieve a political solution to the conflict through a comprehensive agreement between the Syrian Government and the opposition for the full implementation of the Geneva communiqué, adopted after the first international meeting on the issue on 30 June 2012.

In his comments, Mr. Kerry thanked the United Nations and Mr. Brahimi for hosting discussions on Geneva II. Those discussions have been productive and timely, as he and Mr. Lavrov were meeting on Russia’s recent initiative to “gain control of, remove and destroy chemical weapons in Syria and we would both agree that we have constructive conversations.”

“President is Obama is deeply committed to a negotiated solution and we know that Russia is likewise. We are working hard to find common ground to make that happen. We have both agreed to do homework required to make it happen,” Mr. Kerry said, announcing that he and Mr. Lavrov planned to meet in New York during the general debate of the UN General Assembly, which will open on 24 September.

While the two leaders would further consider the matter, including possibly settling on a date for the Geneva II conference, much of the way ahead “will depend on achieving success in the next hours and days” on the question of Syria’s chemical weapons, Mr. Kerry said.

“Both of us, Sergei Lavrov and I, our countries, our Presidents, are deeply concerned about the death toll and destruction and the acts on all sides that are creating more and more refugees, more and more of a humanitarian catastrophe,” he said, adding that the two Governments were committed to working together.

Speaking next, Mr. Lavrov said that now that Syria has signed the legislative decree providing for the accession of Syria to the Convention on the Prohibition of the Development, Production, Stockpiling and Use of Chemical Weapons and on their Destruction, “we have to engage our professionals … and the United Nations to design a road so that the issue is resolved quickly, professionally as soon as practical.

“We are very glad that Mr. Brahimi has invited us to discuss a longer term goal for Syria, namely preparations for the so-called Geneva II conference. From the very beginning of the Syrian conflict, Russia and the Russian President have been promoting a peaceful resolution,” he said.

Mr Lavrov noted that Russia had initiated of the conference from which had emerged the Geneva communiqué agreed and signed “by nearly all the major players, including the United Nations, countries in the region and the P-5 [the permanent members of the Security Council].”

“It is very unfortunate that for a long period the communiqué was basically abandoned and we were not able to have Security Council endorsement of the very important document as is,” he said, thanking Mr. Kerry for his efforts to re-energize the communiqué and work with Russia towards its implementation including through the holding of a new Geneva conference. He said he was very grateful for the discussions with Mr. Brahimi.

Meanwhile, the President of the UN Human Rights Council, which is currently in session in Geneva, issued a letter to both Mr. Lavrov and Mr. Kerry drawing their attention o the work of the independent international commission of inquiry on Syria, which the Council established in 2011.

The Council President, Ambassador Remigiusz Henczel of Poland stressed that the commission had yet to be granted access to Syria, despite repeated calls on Damascus to allow the experts to enter the country. The Council President suggests that the Russian and US officials might take up the matter during the scope of their meetings in Geneva.

The commission presented its latest report to the Human Rights Council on Monday, citing ongoing incidents of murder, rape, torture, widespread attacks on civilians and hostage-taking committed by Syrian forces and anti-Government armed groups. It said that “the perpetrators of these violations and crimes, on all sides, act in defiance of international law. They do not fear accountability.”

The panel, which described Syria today as “a battlefield [where] massacres are perpetrated with impunity [and] and untold number of Syrians have disappeared,” reported that Government and pro-Government forces in Syria have continued to conduct widespread attacks on the civilian population with impunity, committing murder, torture, rape and enforced disappearance as crimes against humanity, stressed that there is no military solution to the conflict.

The Settlement Subcommittee of the Higher Planning Council of the Civil Administration is expected to meet Wednesday to approve the plans.

Peace Now said that a government committee was expected to grant initial approval for plans to build 339 homes at Galgal and Almog settlements in the Jordan valley, Kfar Adumim northeast of Jerusalem and at Kochav Yaacov and Shilo near Ramallah, and another 732 new units in Modi’in Ilit, the West Bank’s biggest settlement, AFP reported.

“These approvals are part of an unprecedented wave of advancing settlement plans. This is yet another message by Israel to the US and the Palestinians that this government is not ready for peace,” Peace Now said in a statement.

The news came as US Secretary of State John Kerry landed in Amman at on a fresh trip to the Middle East focused to revive stalled peace talks.

Meanwhile, Israel condemned new guidelines by the European Union on Tuesday which ban EU funding and cooperation with Israeli institutions that operate in territory captured by Israel in 1967.

According to Israeli Haaretz, Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu plans to call European leaders on Wednesday and ask them to help postpone the publication of the new European Union guidelines concerning Israeli settlements.

The guidelines are expected to be officially released on Friday and go into effect on January 1, 2014.

The Palestinians are demanding that Israel stop building settlements in the West Bank as a condition for getting back to the negotiating table which have stalled since 2010. Israel says talks should restart without preconditions.

Al-Hamadallah, a linguistics professor of Nablus’ Al-Najah University, was assigned by Abbas at a meeting at his headquarters in Ramallah Sunday to form a new government, adding that Al-Hamdallah accepted the designation.

“President Abbas has asked me to form a new government and I have accepted,” Hamdallah, 54, a member of Abbas’s Fatah party who has also headed the Palestinian Stock Exchange, told the AFP news agency.

“The government will be formed in the coming days. Most ministers of the outgoing government will stay and I will bring in a new finance minister,” he added.

This move follows the resignation of former government’s Prime Minister Salam Fayyad in April after months of tension with Abbas.

Hamdallah, received a PhD in Applied Linguistics from the University of Lancaster in the United Kingdom and has been president of An-Najah University since 1998. He has also served as the secretary general of the  central elections commission since 2002.

In the wake of Fayyad’s resignation, Haaretz reported the leading candidates to replace him were Hamdallah and Mohammad Mustafa, head of the national investment fund but according to sources close to Abbas told Haaretz Sunday night that Mustafa would probably be appointed Hamdallah’s deputy.

Hamdallah’s appointment comes as U.S. Secretary of State John Kerry last week urged Israelis and Palestinians to renew peace negotiations.

The announcement that the settlements would be authorised was made in response to a Supreme Court petition by the Israeli anti-settlement group Peace Now.

On Tuesday, Israel submitted a formal response to Peace Now’s Supreme Court petition against six illegal outposts. In the response the government declares its intention to legalize four outposts, in isolated areas.

The former government had previously promised to remove the illegal construction built on private land, but had not declared its intention to legalize the outposts, according to Peace Now.

The Supreme Court will hold a hearing on the petition on Wednesday, May 22nd

As for the two remaining outposts on the petition, the Government states that most of the structures that were built on private land were removed, but does not say anything about the future of the outposts themselves.

Meanwhile, Secretary of State John Kerry which is due to meet the Israeli and Palestinian leaders in attempt to revive peace talks.

“The intention to legalize outposts as new settlements is no less than a slap in the face of Secretary Kerry’s new process and is blatant reassurance to settler interests,” Peace Now said in a statement.

Negotiations between the Israeli and Palestinian have been stalled since 2010, and while Netanyahu has repeatedly stated that he is ready to resume talks at any time, he has refused to meet the Palestinians’ preconditions — notably, a freeze to all settlement construction in West Bank.

“We should also carefully and collectively consider how NATO is prepared to respond to protect its members from a Syrian threat, including any potential chemical weapons threat,” he said during the first NATO foreign ministers meeting.

It was the first time Israel had accused the embattled Syrian leader of using his stockpile of chemical weapons.

Despite the deteriorating situation, NATO says there is no chance the alliance will intervene in the civil war.

It has, though, sent Patriot missile batteries to neighboring Turkey to help defend the NATO member against possible missile attack from Syria.

“Since we last met in December, the situation in Syria has dramatically deteriorated. We are extremely concerned about the humanitarian situation and the daily suffering of the Syrian people. We are extremely concerned about the risk of a regional spill-over. Our Ally Turkey has faced cross-border incidents and massive refugee flows. And we are extremely concerned about the use of ballistic missiles in Syria and the possible use of chemical weapons,” NATO Secretary General Anders Fogh Rasmussen said.

“There is no call for NATO to play a role. But if these challenges remain unaddressed, they could directly affect our own security. So we will continue to remain extremely vigilant.”

More than 70,000 people have died in the conflict, according to the United Nations.

The violence also has forced more than 1 million Syrians to seek safety abroad, burdening neighboring countries such as Lebanon, Jordan, Turkey and Iraq.

According to Maan news agency Kerry offered President Mahmoud Abbas incentives to return to direct negotiations with Israel.

Kerry offered to release all Palestinian funds and to ensure Israel does not withhold Palestinian tax revenue in the future, and to extend the Palestinian Authority’s jurisdiction, particularly in Area C , according to Maan.

The 60 percent of the West Bank under exclusive Israeli control.

According to AFP, Abbas seeks a return to direct talks, but demanded that Israel must stop illegal settlement building and release Palestinian prisoners.

The last round of direct negotiations collapsed in late 2010.

Kerry is on a 10-day tour, met with Turkish foreign minister Ahmet Davutoglu in Istanbul before meeting with Abbas.

“Turkey can be a key, an important contribution to the process of peace in so many ways,” Kerry told reporters in a joint press conference.

Meanwhile, a rocket was fired from the Gaza Strip on Sunday. The rocket crashed into southern Israel as US Secretary of State John Kerry arrived for talks with Israeli and Palestinian leader.

Following the incident, Israel’s army closed a goods crossing into the Gaza Strip on Monday.Kerry is to hold separate talks on Monday with Palestinian Prime Minister Salam Fayyad and Israeli President Shimon Peres. On Tuesday he meets Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu.

The concern over the lives of the Syrian people due to the ongoing violence threats was expressed in a press release following the meeting.

“The regime must immediately stop the indiscriminate bombardment against populated areas which are crimes against humanity and cannot remain unpunished,” according to the statement.

The United States pledged $60 million in “non-lethal” assistance for the Syrian opposition as well as the first direct U.S. aid to opposition fighters in the form of food and medical assistance.

“Aiding the people who are fighting for a free Syria is a cause to which President Obama and all of us are deeply committed. And what unites us today is our shared conviction that the best solution for Syria is a political solution. The sooner we can get started, the more lives we’ll save,” Secretary of State John Kerry said.

Meanwhile, Turkish leaders prepare to welcome the top US diplomat for talks that are set to revolve around Syria, a day after he announces fresh aid for the Syrian rebels.

The European Union, meanwhile, said it amended sanctions on Syria to permit the supply of armored vehicles, non-lethal military equipment and technical aid to the Syrian opposition, provided they were intended to protect civilians.

The meeting came ahead of a meeting of the Syrian National Coalition on Saturday in Turkey where the umbrella opposition group is to elect a prime minister and government to run parts of Syria seized by rebels.

The United States and European countries have been hesitant to provide militarily aid to the opposition on the ground until now.

The coalition’s leader Ahmed Moaz al-Khatib announced Monday on Facebook that his group will now attend the Friends of Syria meeting after consultations with its members and others, as well as based on remarks by senior diplomats from the United States and the UK.

U.S. Secretary of State John Kerry said in remarks in Berlin today that Syrian rebels should be given aid if President Bashar al- Assad refuses to join talks and goes on killing his own people.

Initially, the Syrian National Coalition threatened to boycott the Friends of Syria meeting to protest what it sees as a lack of effective action from the international community.

For his part, Syria’s foreign minister has said that his government is ready to hold talks with all parties, including armed rebels who want dialogue to end the crisis in the country .

Walid al-Muallem made the comments on Monday in Moscow before talks with his Russian counterpart Sergei Lavrov.

The unrest began in March 2011, when al-Assad’s government began a brutal crackdown on protesters calling for the ouster of president Bashar al-Assad.

The protest movement eventually evolved into an armed conflict, one that has cost the lives of more than 70,000 Syrians to flee to neighboring nations, according to the United Nations’ refugee agency.

Over an eight-week period from mid-December, 255,000 Syrians fled their country. Out of the 860,000 refugee total, Iraq, Jordan, Lebanon and Turkey are together sheltering 97 per cent of them.

Humanitarian agencies are trying to keep up with the rising needs. The World Food Programme is scaling up to meet the needs of 2.5 million people by April.