US President Donald Trump’s son-in-law and advisor Jared Kushner has met with Saudi Arabia’s crown prince in an effort to restart peace talks in the Israeli-Palestinian conflict.

Mr Kushner, who as Mr Trump’s senior presidential advisor is in charge of the administration’s efforts to broker a lasting Middle East peace deal, flew to Jeddah on Tuesday, where he held meetings with Mohammed bin Salman, Saudi Arabia’s newly-minted crown prince and defence minister, the Saudi state news agency said.

Negotiator Jason Greenblatt and deputy national security adviser Dina Powell also met with Prince bin Salman in Jeddah to discuss a “path to substantive path to substantive Israeli-Palestinian peace talks“, a White House official said.

The US visit is part of a regional tour which will also see Mr Kushner meet with leaders from Israel and the Palestinian Authority, the United Arab Emirates, Jordan, Egypt and Qatar - the last of which has been the subject of a diplomatic and trade boycott by other Arab states for almost three months.

The talks were aimed at achieving stability in the “wider Middle East and beyond,” Saudi state news agency SPA also said. Kuwaiti and US-led mediation efforts in the spat have so far failed.

31-year-old Prince bin Salman - the architect of Saudi’s involvement in Yemen’s devastating war known for his quick temper - has been variously described as the “most dangerous man in the world” - an epithet also awarded to Donald Trump.

Trump: Israelis and Palestinians are 'reaching for peace'

Mr Trump is widely viewed in Israel and the wider Middle East as far more sympathetic to Israeli interests than his predecessor Barack Obama.

Despite his pro-Israeli campaign trail rhetoric, since entering the White House Mr Trump has caught some Israeli hard-liners off guard with the suggestion the government should “hold back” on settlement building in the West Bank, and his administration has equivocated over whether the US embassy will move from Tel Aviv to Jerusalem as promised.

He has, however, repeatedly emphasised his sincere desire to broker a peace deal in the intractable Israeli-Palestinian conflict.

Israel: From independence to intifada Show all 7 1 /7 Israel: From independence to intifada Israel: From independence to intifada The proclamation of the state of Israel is read by David Ben-Gurion in Tel Aviv on 14 May 1948 © EPA Israel: From independence to intifada Sixty years on, an illuminated flag is shown in Tel Aviv this week © PA Israel: From independence to intifada Young Jews celebrate the proclamation of the state of Israel in 1948 © AFP/Getty Images Israel: From independence to intifada Palestinian children throw stones at a retreating Israeli tank during an incursion into the West Bank city of Jenin in August 2003 following a suicide bombing in Jerusalem © AP Israel: From independence to intifada How Israel's borders have changed - click image to enlarge © Independent Graphics Israel: From independence to intifada From 1948-50, the world's mostcelebrated war photographer Robert Capa captured extraordinary imagesof Israel's pioneering settlers. Here, Turkish immigrants arrive in Haifa © Robert Capa/Getty Images Robert Capa/Magnum Israel: From independence to intifada The Negba kibbutz, where the walls have been damaged by shells fired during the Israeli-Arab war © Robert Capa/Getty Images Robert Capa/Magnum

Mr Kushner’s family - who count Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu as a family friend- has donated tens of thousands of dollars to Israeli settlements in the West Bank, which the international community views as illegal.

Palestinian Authority leader Mahmoud Abbas is frustrated with Washington’s efforts to broker peace, however, reportedly telling left-wing Israeli lawmakers he has met with Trump envoys more than 20 times since the beginning of the president’s term, which is “in chaos".