US Secretary of State John Kerry meets chief Palestinian negotiator Saeb Erakat in London Tuesday hoping to avert a diplomatic crisis over a UN bid to force Israel to withdraw from Palestinian land.

US Secretary of State John Kerry meets chief Palestinian negotiator Saeb Erakat in London Tuesday hoping to avert a diplomatic crisis over a UN bid to force Israel to withdraw from Palestinian land.

Kerry will seek to persuade the Palestinians not to rush ahead with a draft UN resolution seeking to set a two-year timetable for an end to the Israeli occupation.

He has spent the past two days in Europe meeting his counterparts as well as Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu to gauge support for the Palestinian effort at the UN Security Council.

He will also meet Tuesday with the secretary general of the Arab League, Nabil al-Arabi, plus Quartet representative Tony Blair.

Netanyahu warned late Monday after meeting Kerry for almost three hours in Rome that European backing for the Palestinians could harm his country.

"Attempts of the Palestinians and of several European countries to force conditions on Israel will only lead to a deterioration in the regional situation and will endanger Israel," he said in a statement.

"Therefore, we will strongly oppose this."

Kerry arrived late Monday in London having paused en route from Rome for less than two hours in Paris to meet British, French and German counterparts.

The Palestinians have said they will submit an Arab-backed draft text to the UN as early as Wednesday.