Israeli and Palestinian negotiators meeting US envoy Martin Indyk to try to find a way to extend faltering peace talks have failed to reach agreement, a Palestinian source told AFP.The meeting began in the late afternoon on Thursday in a Jerusalem hotel but ended after five hours of âvery difficult discussionsâ, the source said.
âThe gap (between the parties) is still wide. There was no breakthrough,â added the Palestinian source.
Indyk is now expected to meet negotiators again on Friday, but he will talk to the Israeli and Palestinian sides separately.
Israeli and Palestinian negotiators had met on their own on Sunday and held a three-way meeting with Indyk a week ago in last-ditch efforts to save the stagnant peace process launched by US Secretary of State John Kerry in July for a period of nine months.
State Department spokeswoman Jennifer Psaki said this week that Israeli and Palestinian negotiators are striving to reach an agreement to extend the talks beyond their April 29 deadline. Washington is pushing for an extension but the negotiations hit an impasse two weeks ago.