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On Wednesday, US Secretary of State John Kerry met for two hours with Palestinian negotiators for “constructive” talks on the future relationship between the Palestinians and the Israelis. The talks come only days after Israel announced its largest expropriation of Palestinian territory since the 80s, as a new showdown hovers at the UN, with the frustrated Palestinians looking to push a resolution to settle a three-year deadline to end Israel’s occupation of Palestinian territory.
This was Kerry’s first face-to-face talks with a Palestinian delegation since Washington was pushed to side during the deal-making process for obtaining peace in Gaza in July – Kerry had failed to mediate a peace between the Palestinians and Israelis then.
“Kerry met with Saeb Erekat and Majid Faraj for about two hours this afternoon. It was a constructive conversation that covered a range of issues, including Gaza, Israeli-Palestinian relations, and recent developments in the region”, US State Department spokeswoman Jen Psaki said. She addead that Kerry and the Palestinian negotiators had agreed to discuss the issues again in the coming weeks.
On Tuesday, Kerry had spoken with Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu over the phone, and expressed his concerns over the new Israeli expropriation plans in West Bank for building new settlements. The United States has called on Israel to reverse its decision.
Kerry’s high-profile attempt to mediate a long-term peace deal between the Palestinian Authority (PA) and Israel had failed spectacularly.
According to state department officials, the Palestinians had urged Wednesday’s meeting “to brief the secretary on current Palestinian plans on the way forward and next steps in Gaza”.
The Israelis and the Palestinians are set to meet soon in Cairo to negotiate a permanent peace, but no date has been set for the talks to start. The Palestinians are now trying to pass a resolution in the UN Security Council to create a three-year deadline for Israel to leave the occupied territories.