Palestinian-Israeli negotiation teams meet secretly in Jerusalem

The Palestinian and Israeli negotiation teams held a joint meeting with the US envoy for the peace process in the Middle East, Martin Indyk, in Jerusalem on Friday night, an informed Palestinian source has said.

Chinese news agency Xingu reported the Palestinian source as saying that the meeting was the first of its kind since last November.

According to the source, the Zionist team reiterated that the fourth batch of veteran Palestinian prisoners would not be released unless the Palestinians agreed to extend the negotiations beyond the deadline ending in April.

Meanwhile, another Palestinian official told the correspondent of the London based newspaper Al-Hayat that the American mediator accepted to modify the terms related to recognising Israel as a Jewish state. This could be put off until the final status agreement.

The official also said that the Palestinian team refused to accept the term related to establishing the Palestinian capital on parts of East Jerusalem.

For the proposed framework agreement the newspaper reported that the Palestinian side would not accept a new reference for negotiations that would grant Palestinians even less rights. However, the Israeli side is expressing covert enthusiasm to it.

Al-Hayat reported Western diplomats saying that the US secretary of state is still working to finalise his framework agreement. His alternative plan, the newspaper said, is to extend the negotiations beyond the deadline.