The Palestinian and Israeli delegations that are currently in Washington in an attempt to revive the stalled peace talks have agreed to continue the talks for at least nine months, the US State Department announced on Monday.
"They have all agreed to focus on having talks not just for the sake of talks, but this is the beginning of direct final status negotiations on a nine-month, at least a nine-month, timetable," Spokeswoman Jen Psaki said according to AFP.
"They have agreed to work together through the course of that time," she added, speaking as the delegations arrived in Washington shortly ahead of a dinner to symbolise the resumption of the talks, AFP reported.
US Secretary of State John Kerry has been exerting considerable efforts in a bid to bring the Palestinians and Israelis back to the negotiating table for the first time since the peace process stalled in September 2010.
The nine-month window was "not a deadline," Psaki told reporters.
"This is an agreement that they will work together for at least that time period on this effort," she said, according to AFP.
"So we're going to make every effort to reach an agreement within that time frame, but again, if we're making progress and we're continuing to make progress, this is not a deadline."
