Leaders to restart Middle East peace talks

Israeli and Palestinian teams are heading to Washington DC for preliminary talks toward a formal reopening of negotiations after years of stalemate, but both sides are emphasising that many obstacles stand between them and a final deal.

Israel’s chief negotiator Tzipi Livni said early today as she left for Washington that talks will be complex and that she was leaving “cautiously but also with hope”.

Palestinian negotiators also departed after the Israeli Cabinet cleared the way for talks yesterday by acceding to Palestinian demands and agreeing to release 104 Palestinian prisoners convicted of deadly attacks.

The US later announced the resumption of talks, the result of months of effort by US secretary of state John Kerry to get the sides back to the table.