Kerry announces ‘basis’ for fresh Israel-Palestine talks

Israeli and Palestinian officials will meet soon in Washington to work out final details on relaunching Mideast peace negotiations for the first time in five years, US Secretary of State John Kerry said.

The announcement fell short of an outright resumption of the talks, which would tackle the toughest issues of the Israeli-Palestinian conflict. But after days of meeting with both sides, Kerry told reporters in the Jordanian capital they had agreed on “a basis” for the talks.

“The agreement is still in the process of being formalised,” Kerry said, refusing to give any details on what had been agreed so far. “If everything goes as expected”, Israeli and Palestinians negotiators will hold initial talks “within the next week or so”, he said.