Local Editor

US Secretary of State John Kerry met for over two hours Wednesday with Palestinian negotiators for talks regarding the so-called "peace process" with the "Israel", a US official said.

The talks come just days after "Israel" announced its biggest grab of Palestinian land since the 1980s.

It was Kerry's first face-to-face talks with Palestinian negotiators since Washington found itself sidelined from the Gaza ceasefire talks in July, when the top US diplomat failed to broker a truce in the "Israeli" aggression against the Gaza Strip.

"Kerry met with Saeb Erekat and Majid Faraj for about two hours this afternoon," State Department spokeswoman Jen Psaki said.

She further added: "It was a constructive conversation that covered a range of issues, including Gaza, "Israeli"-Palestinian relations, and recent developments in the region," adding they had agreed to talk again in coming weeks.

Kerry had also spoken Tuesday by phone with "Israeli" Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu, when he expressed his concerns about new "Israeli" plans to confiscate some 400 hectares of land in the occupied West Bank for settlement building.

The US has called on "Israel" to reverse the decision.

The Palestinians now intend to seek a UN Security Council resolution setting a three-year deadline for ending the "Israeli" occupation of the Palestinian territories.
But the resolution will likely be voted down by a veto from the US which has long stood with its "Israeli" ally.

Source: News Agencies, Edited by website team