Earlier on Wednesday, he visited Qasr el Yahud - the site on the West Bank of the River Jordan where Israel says Jesus was baptised.

BBC: Pope calls for Palestinian homeland

Obama has visited Israel, the Palestinian territory of the West Bank, Jordan and several other Middle Eastern and European countries.

CNN: Americans adopt new election priorities in Lebanon

The delegations of Egypt and Jordan may include Palestinians from the West Bank and Gaza or other Palestinians as mutually agreed.

BBC: The Camp David Accords of 1979

When talking about Palestine, the speaker is referring to the region between the Mediterranean Sea and the Jordan River that includes the Jewish state of Israel and the Palestinian lands of the West Bank and Gaza.

CNN: Purported bin Laden tape calls Gaza offensive a 'holocaust'

These negotiations will be conducted among Egypt, Israel, Jordan and the elected representatives of the inhabitants of the West Bank and Gaza.

BBC: The Camp David Accords of 1979

On Thursday, Israel said it had detained a truck driver from the West Bank town of Nablus, whom it accused of smuggling dozens of weapons from Jordan to Israel under boxes of vegetables.

BBC: Al-Qaeda 'opens new front in Jordan'

Mitchell's stop in Israel is part of an eight-day tour, which includes visits to Egypt, the West Bank, Jordan and Saudi Arabia, the State Department said.

CNN: Top Obama envoy in Gaza peace mission

The Jordan Valley - most of which lies within the eastern strip of the West Bank - is about 120km long (75 miles) and 15km wide.

BBC: Middle East

On Wednesday, Jordan sent a convoy of trucks across the Jordan River packed with relief aid for Palestinians under Israeli curfew in the West Bank.

BBC: Al-Qaeda 'opens new front in Jordan'