US says Israelis, Palestinians to resume peace talks on Monday in Washington

WASHINGTON – The State Department says Israeli and Palestinian negotiators will resume long-stalled direct peace talks on Monday.

The department announced Sunday that the two sides had accepted invitations from Secretary of State John Kerry to come to Washington “to formally resume direct final status negotiations.” The department said two days of initial meetings will begin Monday evening.

It said Kerry had called both Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu and Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas on Sunday and said they agreed that the talks would “serve as an opportunity to develop a procedural workplan for how the parties can proceed with the negotiations in the coming months.”