U.S. Secretary of State John Kerry said Thursday he believed Syrian peace talks could still be held in the coming weeks, although Washington and Moscow have failed to set a date.

U.N.-Arab League special envoy Lakhdar Brahimi said earlier this week that, after a three-way meeting in Geneva, it had not been possible to agree on when to hold the talks which had been proposed for the end of November.

U.S. Secretary of State John Kerry said on Thursday he has made "significant progress" in marathon talks with Israeli and Palestinian leaders amid fears Israeli settlements could derail the peace process.

Kerry pledged that he "absolutely" believed a final agreement on all the most difficult issues could be reached but he did not rule out the possibility of first striking an interim deal.

Secretary of State John Kerry held talks with Jordan's king Thursday after reaffirming U.S. opposition to Israeli settlements, as the contentious issue threatens to derail the peace process.

The top U.S. diplomat met with King Abdullah II in Amman and was later to hold talks with Jordanian Foreign Minister Nasser Judeh.

A Jordanian court on Wednesday jailed a jihadist and a doctor for going to neighboring Syria to support rebels fighting the regime in the war-torn country, a judicial official said.

"The state security court sentenced a jihadist to five years in prison for infiltrating Syria to fight with the rebels last spring," the official told Agence France Presse.

The United Nations has estimated the cost of hosting more than 500,000 Syrian refugees in Jordan for this year and 2014 at $5.3 billion (3.9 billion euros), U.N. documents showed Monday.

"A rough estimate would be $2.1 billion for 2013, and $3.2 billion for 2014" for humanitarian and development funding requirements for the impact of Syrian refugees in Jordan, according to the documents released at the end of a closed-door meeting of U.N. agencies in Amman.

Japan granted Jordan on Sunday one billion yen ($10.1 million, 7.1 million euros) to minimize the impact of hosting hundreds of thousands of refugees from the war in neighboring Syria.

"The grant seeks to ease the burdens that Jordan shoulders in hosting the Syrian refugees," the planning ministry said in a statement.

Israel will build a security fence on the border with Jordan, a report said on Sunday, enraging Palestinians ahead of talks with U.S. Secretary of State John Kerry.

Israel has long stated that it seeks to retain a long-term military presence along the Jordan Valley, which the Palestinians vigorously oppose.

King Abdullah II said Sunday the influx of hundreds of thousands of Syrian refugees is depleting Jordan's scarce natural resources, and called for international assistance to deal with the problem.

"Jordan currently hosts around 600,000 Syrian refugees -- an issue that depletes our already limited resources and puts enormous pressure on our infrastructure," the king said in a speech to parliament.

Amnesty International on Thursday urged world support to help Jordan and other countries hosting Syrian refugees end border restrictions on those fleeing the conflict, saying hundreds are being turned back.

In a new report, Amnesty highlights the difficulties faced by people who are trying to escape the conflict in Syria to neighboring countries, mainly Jordan.

A Saudi court on Wednesday sentenced a Jordanian to nine years in prison and 80 lashes after he was convicted of spying for Israel, local media reported.

The specialized court charged the man with "contacting Israeli Prime Minister (Benjamin Netanyahu) and contacting a Zionist intelligence officer in voice and picture via email, as well as agreeing to go to them and cooperate with their intelligence," reported Alriyadh daily on its website.