A nine-month
deadline has been placed on a final peace deal between Israeli and Palestinian
negotiators, according to US Secretary of State John Kerry. Talks between the
two parties will resume in two weeks.
A
three-year freeze on talks ended on Tuesday in Washington DC, with Kerry
telling reporters both sides had agreed on which issues were key if peace was
to be reached. Those issues include the definition of borders, refugees and the
status of Jerusalem. The next round of talks will take place in either Israel
or the Palestinian territories.
"The
parties have agreed to remain engaged in sustained, continuous and substantive
negotiations on the core issues," said Kerry, standing side-by-side with
Israeli chief negotiator Tzipi Livni and her Palestinian counterpart Saeb
Erakat.
"They
will meet within the next two weeks in either Israel or the Palestinian
Territories in order to begin the process of formal negotiation," he said.
"[Those
key issues] are on the table with one simple goal: a view to ending the
conflict, ending the claims," Kerry added. "Our objective will be to
achieve a final status agreement over the course of the next nine months."
The top US
diplomat went on to say there was "no other alternative" than a
two-state solution. Kerry's work to reignite peace talks was praised by Erakat,
while Livni said it was their task to "work together so that we can
transform that spark of hope into something real and lasting".
The parties
met with US president Barack Obama as part of talks. Attempts to last open
negotiations in 2010 were almost immediately unsuccessful, with the previous
talks being held in 2008.
Talks fail
to please all
The latest
round of negotiations have, however, been condemned by Islamist militant group
Hamas, which controls the Gaza strip.
There are
also doubts over the motives of Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu.
"The question is whether Netanyahu is
happy with simply holding negotiations or if he really wants to reach a peace
accord," Israeli public radio presenter Chico Menache told AFP news
agency. "It's difficult to know if he's ready to make territorial
concessions on Israeli settlements."
ph/dr (AFP, AP)
Related Article:
No comments:
Post a Comment
Note: Only a member of this blog may post a comment.