US Secretary of State John Kerry says the Palestinian Authority (PA) and Israelis will reopen negotiations “within the next two weeks”.

Kerry made the remarks at a joint press conference along with the Palestinian and Israeli chief negotiators, Saeb Erekat and Tzipi Livni, at the Department of State in Washington, DC after the two-day US-brokered talks ended on Tuesday.

Kerry said they had “had constructive and positive meetings” but he failed to provide any specific results or agreements made during the talks.

He said both sides are going to “to remain engaged” to discuss core issues.

Many Palestinians believe the talks are doomed to failure because the Israeli regime and Washington are pushing for the Palestinians to unconditionally surrender.

Last Palestinian-Israeli talks broke down in September 2010 after Tel Aviv refused to freeze its illegal settlement activities in the occupied West Bank.

The presence and continued expansion of Israeli settlements in occupied Palestine has created a major obstacle for the efforts to establish peace in the Middle East.

More than half a million Israelis live in over 120 illegal settlements built since Israel’s occupation of the Palestinian territories of the West Bank and East al-Quds in 1967.

The United Nations and most countries regard the Israeli settlements as illegal because the territories were captured by Israel in a war in 1967 and are hence subject to the Geneva Conventions, which forbids construction on occupied lands.

SHI/SHI