RAMALLAH
By Qais Abu Samra
US Secretary of State John Kerry met with Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas on Saturday for the second time in less than 24 hours in Ramallah as part of a fresh round of Israeli-Palestinian talks aimed at reaching a viable peace deal.
Kerry is expected to address the media soon after he wraps up his meeting with the Palestinian leader before he heads to Jerusalem to meet Israeli officials, a Palestinian source said.
Washington’s top diplomat met Abbas in Ramallah on Friday, following a meeting in Jerusalem with Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu and Foreign Minister Avigdor Lieberman.
Following his meeting with Netanyahu, Kerry asserted that a peace deal between the Palestinians and the Israelis was still possible, but he admitted that there were some difficulties, even without elaborating.
On Thursday, Kerry said the Israelis and Palestinians would have to make "tough choices" in the coming weeks if they wanted to achieve peace.
"My plan is to work with both sides to narrow differences on a framework that will set guidelines for negotiations," Kerry told a joint press conference with Netanyahu.
He arrived in Israel on Thursday in his 10th visit to the region for Mideast peace talks since he took over in February last year.
The Palestinians and the Israelis resumed their peace talks last July, after a three-year hiatus, under American sponsorship.
The results of the negations, which focus on final settlement issues, borders, Israeli settlements, Jerusalem and the return of Palestinian refugees, have not been announced yet.
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