BICOM

US Secretary of State John Kerry will meet Palestinian Authority (PA) President Mahmoud Abbas in Jordan’s capital Amman today in a bid to secure Abbas’ agreement to extend peace talks with Israel which are due to expire next month.

US State Department spokesperson Jen Psaki said Kerry, who is currently accompanying US President Obama on a trip to Europe, will divert to Amman and meet with Abbas to “continue to narrow the gaps between the parties.” With an end of April deadline on current peace negotiations looming, Israeli leaders have expressed their desire to extend the talks until the end of the year, but significant disagreements between the two sides remain. This was underscored yesterday by Abbas, who told the Arab League summit in Kuwait that he would not so much as discuss recognition of Israel as a characteristically Jewish state and demanded a future Palestinian state on “all the territories that were occupied in 1967” without mention of land swaps.

Abbas also accused Israel of “shirking” an agreement over this week’s scheduled fourth and final stage in the overall release of 104 Palestinian prisoners, which Israel agreed in July in order to allow the resumption of peace talks. Israeli leaders have said that this week’s release will only happen if the PA agree to extend peace talks. However, Abbas and other Palestinian leaders view the release as fulfilment of a commitment already made when the parties agreed to renew talks last July, in return for which the Palestinians agreed not to continue unilateral efforts to secure recognition at the UN.

There is also disagreement over the identities of those set for release.  There have been suggestions that the PA will demand they include Arab citizens of Israel and high-profile Fatah leader Marwan Barghouti, who is currently serving five life sentences for murder. Israel’s Army Radio suggests this morning that a three-way deal could unfold whereby Arab citizens of Israel would be released, the PA will agree to extend peace talks until the end of the year, and the United States will free convicted Israeli spy Jonathan Pollard.