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Kerry: Israelis, Palestinians agree on basis to resume peace talks

Arab-Israel Relations Materials 20 July 2013 01:53 (UTC +04:00)
U.S. Secretary of State John Kerry said here on Friday that Palestinian and Israeli officials will meet in Washington next week to look into details of resuming the stalled peace process, the state-run Petra news agency reported.
Kerry: Israelis, Palestinians agree on basis to resume peace talks

U.S. Secretary of State John Kerry said here on Friday that Palestinian and Israeli officials will meet in Washington next week to look into details of resuming the stalled peace process, the state-run Petra news agency reported.

Kerry, who has been trying hard to revive the talks since he came to office in March, said an agreement was reached between the Palestinians and the Israelis to resume the peace talks, Xinhua reported.

"We reached an agreement lays the foundation for resuming peace talks between the Palestinians and the Israelis, which is an important step," Kerry told reporters shortly before he left Amman for Washington.

Kerry's announcement follows a series of meeting over the past few days with Israeli, Jordanian and Palestinian officials in a bid to resume direct Mideast peace talks.

He also voiced appreciation for the role of Jordan, the Arab League and the Arab Peace Initiative committee in helping to revive peace talks.

Meanwhile, a well-informed Palestinian source, who spoke on condition of anonymity, told Xinhua that Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas and Kerry on Friday agreed to hold meetings between Israeli and Palestinian peace negotiators within the coming few days.

The source said Kerry gave Abbas assurance about an Israeli declaration of accepting the principle of the two-state solution based on 1967 borders, despite Israel's current rejection to it.

Israeli-Palestinian direct peace talks stopped in October 2010 after Israel insisted on continuing settlements-building in the West Bank and east Jerusalem.

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