U.S. Secretary of State John Kerry is back in the Middle East in another effort to keep the crumbling Israeli-Palestinian peace talks going after Israel retracted its promise to release a final group of Palestinian prisoners earlier this week, according to Agence France Presse.
"After consulting with his team, Secretary Kerry decided it would be productive to return to the region," State Department spokesperson Jen Psaki told the media.
Kerry previously interrupted a trip to Rome last week to meet with Palestinian leader Mahmoud Abbas in Amman in an attempt to convince him to continue talks with Israeli negotiators beyond the April 29 deadline.
However, Abbas has largely refused to entertain ideas about extending the talks until the prisoners are released as agreed to under the decision to resume the peace talks in the first place last July.
Kerry is expected to meet with both Israeli and Palestinian leaders in the upcoming hours.
