Israeli, Palestinian Negotiators to Meet on Wednesday, US Says
TEHRAN (Tasnim) – A spokesperson for the US state department said that Israeli and Palestinian negotiators are scheduled to meet today in a bid to extend the (so called) peace talks beyond the April 29 deadline.
"They're going to be meeting again tomorrow," State Department spokeswoman Jen Psaki said. "The parties are working on determining if there's a path to extend the negotiations for a period of months past April 29th."
The peace talks appeared on the verge of collapse this month when Israel refused to carry out a promised prisoner release and the Palestinians signed on to 15 international conventions, Reuters reported.
Israel called off the prisoner release unless it received assurances the Palestinian leadership would continue the talks past the deadline.
In response, the Palestinians signed the treaties, including the Geneva Conventions on the conduct of war and occupations, a defiant assertion of statehood that surprised the United States.
US Secretary of State John Kerry, who revived the peace talks in July after a nearly three-year hiatus, has sought to place the onus on the two sides for continuing the negotiations.
