WASHINGTON • White House senior adviser Jared Kushner will lead a United States delegation on a tour of the Middle East to finalise details of his proposed US$50 billion (S$68 billion) economic development plan for the Palestinians, Jordan, Egypt and Lebanon, an administration official has said.

Mr Kushner, Middle East envoy Jason Greenblatt, State Department official Brian Hook and Mr Kushner's aide Avi Berkowitz are expected to make stops in Israel, Jordan, Egypt, Saudi Arabia, Qatar and the United Arab Emirates, the official said on Sunday.

They will leave late this month and return home early next month.

The official said the purpose of the trip is to "continue on the momentum that was created at the workshop in Bahrain and finalise the economic portion of the plan".

They will also discuss the possibility of locating the development fund in Bahrain, the official added.

Mr Kushner, US President Donald Trump's son-in-law and the plan's main architect, had sought to build support for his ambitious economic proposals for the Palestinian territories at an international meeting in Bahrain in June.

Palestinians have poured scorn on the Trump administration's US$50 billion investment plan to help achieve Middle East peace, but the US' Gulf Arab allies said the economic initiative had promise if a political settlement is reached.

Mr Kushner and Treasury Secretary Steven Mnuchin last week discussed creation of the fund with World Bank president David Malpass, the official said. The World Bank will have a role in managing the fund.

The US delegation was not expected to discuss Mr Trump's long-awaited political plan for the Middle East, and when it will be released remains unclear.

REUTERS