Israel and the Palestinians have reached an agreement which establishes the basis for resuming peace talks, the US Secretary of State has announced.John Kerry was speaking in Jordan, after meetings with both sides earlier. He gave no details of the agreement, but said initial talks would be held in Washington next week.
The last round of direct talks broke down nearly three years ago over the issue of Israeli settlements in the West Bank and East Jerusalem.
Mr Kerry told reporters in Amman that the parties had "reached an agreement that establishes a basis for resuming direct final status negotiations between the Palestinians and the Israelis."
"This is a significant and welcome step forward," he said, but stressed that it was still "in the process of being formalised".
Chief Palestinian negotiator Saeb Erekat and his Israeli counterpart Tzipi Livni will travel to Washington "in the next week or so" to begin initial talks, Mr Kerry said.
In his brief statement, Mr Kerry was able to announce the breakthrough that he had worked towards over six trips to this region: a resumption in direct peace talks between Israel and the Palestinians. However, he gave few clues about how they might succeed.
During the day, Palestinian officials told me that they were seeking "written clear commitments" that negotiations on borders would be based on pre-1967 ceasefire lines. They also sought reassurances about what would happen if they dropped a demand for a freeze on Jewish settlement building in the occupied West Bank and East Jerusalem.
Meanwhile, Israeli journalists speculated that talks would restart with no preconditions - as their government has demanded. But some also anticipated the release of hundreds of Palestinian prisoners from Israeli jails.
It could take time before the facts become clear. Mr Kerry is now flying back to the US; in Israel, the Jewish Sabbath has started, and Palestinians are also on their weekend.
Mr Kerry said any details of the agreement which might be reported were "conjecture" and stressed that "the best way to give these negotiations a chance is to keep them private".
He also thanked the Arab League, which on Wednesday gave its backing to his plan for resumed talks, saying this had made an "important difference".
| An Nahar adds: |
"Hamas rejects Kerry's announcement of a return to talks and considers the Palestinian Authority's return to negotiations with the occupation to be at odds with the national consensus," Hamas spokesman Sami Abu Zuhri told AFP.
He said that Abbas had "no legitimate right" to negotiate on behalf of the Palestinian people.
Ihab al-Ghassin, spokesman for the Hamas government, also told AFP that "whoever negotiates on the part of the people who is not chosen by them, represents only himself. The Palestinian people will not accept this."
| And Ynet reports on the Palestinian understanding of the starting point: |
He said Kerry would endorse the 1967 lines as the starting point of negotiations and assured the Paleostinians that Israel would free some 350 prisoners gradually in the coming months. The prisoners would include some 100 men that Israel convicted of crimes committed before interim peace accords were signed in 1993. Israel has balked at freeing these prisoners in the past because many were convicted in deadly attacks.