WEST BANK: U,S Secretary of State Kerry meets Abbas after offers Israel ideas on security

Record ID: 564803

  • Title: WEST BANK: U,S Secretary of State Kerry meets Abbas after offers Israel ideas on security
  • Date: 5th December 2013
  • Summary: RAMALLAH, WEST BANK (DECEMBER 5, 2013) (REUTERS) ( ** BEWARE FLASH PHOTOGRAPHY **) VEHICLE CARRYING UNITED STATES SECRETARY OF STATE JOHN KERRY ARRIVING TO PALESTINIAN PRESIDENTIAL HEADQUARTERS KERRY GETTING OUT OF VEHICLE AND ENTERING BUILDING MORE OF KERRY AND REPRESENTATIVES ENTERING BUILDING DOME OF THE ROCK ENGRAVED IN STONE ON WALL PALESTINIAN PRESIDENT MAHMOUD ABBAS, KERRY AND U.S. SPECIAL ENVOY FOR ISRAELI-PALESTINIAN NEGOTIATIONS MARTIN INDYK SEATED ABBAS AND KERRY DURING MEETING INDYK SITTING MORE OF ABBAS AND KERRY TALKING MORE OF ABBAS, KERRY, INDYK AND OTHER MEMBERS OF THE U.S. DELEGATION DURING MEETING IN RAMALLAH
  • Embargoed: 20th December 2013 12:00
  • Keywords:
  • Location: West bank
  • City:
  • Country: Palestinian Territories
  • Topics: International Relations
  • Reuters ID: LVA5NT33T8O5SETEXWINP02VMYNY
  • Story Text: U.S. Secretary of State John Kerry met Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas on Thursday (December 5) in the presidential headquarters in Ramallah in the occupied West Bank after Kerry had said that some progress had been made in Israeli-Palestinian peace talks.
    Negotiations resumed in July and Palestinian officials say the sides remain far apart on the central issues of borders, security, Jerusalem's status and Palestinian refugees.
    Kerry said earlier on Thursday that he had presented Israel with ideas for improving its security under any future accord.
    Acknowledging Israel's concerns that handing over occupied territory to form part of a Palestinian state could make it vulnerable to attack, Kerry said he had offered Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu thoughts on that particular subject, without elaborating further.
    On Wednesday (December 4), the top Palestinian peace negotiator Saeb Erekat urged Kerry to salvage the peace talks that he said were faltering.
    For its part, Israel has accused Palestinian leaders of engaging in anti-Israel incitement and hampering talks by refusing to recognise the country as a "Jewish state."
    Palestinians have objected to continued Jewish settlement expansion on occupied land they want as part of a future state
    Palestinians want the West Bank and Arab East Jerusalem, areas that Israel has controlled since capturing them in the 1967 Middle East war, as well as the Gaza Strip, which is ruled by Hamas Islamists, for an independent state.
  • Copyright Holder: REUTERS
  • Copyright Notice: (c) Copyright Thomson Reuters 2013. Open For Restrictions - http://about.reuters.com/fulllegal.asp
  • Usage Terms/Restrictions: None
Register