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U.S. Secretary of State John Kerry started his visit to Israel and the Palestinian territories on Tuesday by laying a wreath at Rabin square in Tel Aviv, commemorating the murder of former Israeli Prime Minister Yitzhak Rabin who signed the 1993 interim Oslo peace accords with the Palestinians.

Upon his arrival, Kerry said he had "no illusions" about the difficulties facing the Israeli-Palestinian peace process.

"I come here without any illusions about the difficulties. But I come here determined to work with leaders, with the prime minister, with the president of the Palestinian Authority to try and find a way forward so that Israel can live the dream that President Peres and the Prime Minister Mr. Rabin expressed so eloquently and beautifully in the tragedy of that day here and in many days before that. We will continue to work and I can promise Israelis that America will stand by the side of Israel every step of the way," he said.