US Vice-President Mike Pence to travel to Middle East next week

US Vice President Mike Pence will travel to the Middle East late next week to meet the leaders of Egypt, Jordan and Israel, moving ahead with a trip delayed by regional anger following Washington's policy shift on Jerusalem.

President Donald Trump's administration invited almost universal condemnation last month when it officially recognised Jerusalem and effectively ignored Palestinian claims on the city.

A senior Palestinian official said that the US vice-president was "not welcome in Palestine" following the decision, while Egyptian Muslim and Christian religious leaders publicly rebuffed requests for a meeting.

Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas' Fatah party had called for mass demonstrations against Pence if he visited Jerusalem.

Pence will arrive 20 January in Egypt for a meeting with President Abdel Fattah al-Sisi, heading the following day to Jordan for meetings with King Abdullah.

His trip will conclude on 22-23 January with a two-day visit to Israel, where he will meet Prime Minister Binyamin Netanyahu and President Reuven Rivlin, deliver a speech to the Knesset, visit the Western Wall and the Yad Vashem Holocaust memorial.

Fourteen Palestinians have been killed by Israeli military forces in unrest since Trump recognised Jerusalem as Israel's capital on 6 December.

Israel regards Jerusalem as its "undivided" capital, a position nearly the entire world rejects saying its status should be determined in peace talks with the Palestinians.

Under international law East Jerusalem is considered occupied Palestinian territory.