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 Kerry will travel to Jerusalem and Ramallah on Wednesday for more
talks with Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu and Palestinian
President Mahmoud Abbas, resuming his intensive shuttle diplomacy
after a Christmas break.
"In these meetings, he will discuss the ongoing final status
negotiations between the Israelis and Palestinians, among other
issues," State Department spokeswoman Jen Psaki said in a statement.
The United States is seeking to broker an agreement on a "two-state
solution" in which Israel would exist peacefully alongside a new
Palestinian state.
Kerry wants the sides to agree to a framework for an interim accord
ahead of a deal in April, which would launch another year of talks
aimed at a full-blown peace treaty. A framework would demonstrate
that progress is being made in talks that began in July, according
to U.S. officials.
A framework would touch on all the main issues, including security,
the future of Jerusalem and the fate of refugees.
A step in that process is the release of Palestinian prisoners late
Monday or early Tuesday, the third group to be freed since talks
resumed in July. The release is seen by the United States as a vital
confidence-building measure.
Netanyahu's office said in a statement that 26 prisoners would be
released at least 48 hours after their names are made public later
on Saturday. That would allow Israelis to contest the amnesty at the
Supreme Court, which traditionally rejects such appeals. The
prisoners had been jailed for deadly violence committed before a
1993 Israeli-Palestinian interim peace accord, the statement said. A
total of 104 inmates are included in the four-stage release.
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The plan for the release was overshadowed by an announcement by
Israel on Friday that it intends to build 1,400 homes in Jewish
settlements in the occupied West Bank, a move Palestinian negotiator
Saeb Erekat said would "destroy the peace process" and could be met
with retaliation.
The Palestinians see the Jewish settlements as an obstacle to
achieving a viable state in East Jerusalem, the West Bank and the
Gaza Strip, territories Israel captured in the 1967 Middle East war.
Most countries consider Israel's settlements there illegal.
During his last visit to the region on December 13, Kerry said both
sides remained committed to peace talks and were on course to wrap
up an interim deal in April.
A previous round of negotiations in 2010 broke down in a dispute
over settlement construction, and peace talks have shown little sign
of progress since their revival this year.
(Additional reporting by Maayan Lubell in Jerusalem;
editing by
Peter Cooney)
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