RAMALLAH
By Alaa Rimawi
US Secretary of State John Kerry will visit both Israel and the Palestinian territories this week to push troubled Middle East peace talks, sources at the US consulate in Jerusalem told Anadolu Agency.
Talks between Israel and the Palestinians hit a snag recently following the announcement of new Jewish settlement plans in the occupied West Bank.
Palestinian negotiators insist that Israeli settlement building must stop before a comprehensive Israeli-Palestinian final-status agreement can be reached.
"Settlement activity will top of the agenda of talks between Kerry and Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas," a Palestinian official told AA.
Israeli media reported that Kerry would hold talks with Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu on Iran's recent nuclear deal with the West and the peace talks with the Palestinians.
Iran and six world powers – the US, Britain, Russia, France, China and Germany – recently penned a deal to freeze Tehran's nuclear program in exchange for limited relief from sanctions to ensure that it nuclear capacity would only be used for peaceful purposes.
englishnews@aa.com.tr
