US Secretary of State John Kerry says negotiators from Israel and Palestine have agreed to hold another meeting within the next two weeks to kick off new peace talks.

 

　　The peace negotiations are aimed to achieve a final status agreement between the two sides.

 

　　CRI Washington chief correspondent Xiaohong has more.

 

　　Secretary Kerry described the two-day-meeting between Israeli and Palestinian negotiators "constructive and positive", saying both sides have agreed to keep the momentum.

 

　　"The parties have agreed to remain engaged and sustained continuous and substantive negotiations on the core issues and they will meet within the next two weeks in either Israel or the Palestinian territories in order to begin the process of formal negotiation."

 

　　Secretary Kerry disclosed that both the Palestinians and Israelis have agreed to put all issues regarding the final status of Palestine on the table for discussion.

 

　　Among the thorniest issues include the border and settlement problems, the status of Jerusalem, as well as the rights of Palestinian refugees.

 

　　Palestinian chief negotiator Saeb Erekat says he is delighted all issues are on the table.

 

　　"Palestinians have suffered enough. It's time for the Palestinians to live in peace, freedom and dignity within their own independent sovereign state."

 

　　He says he believes the Palestinian people will benefit the most from a successful negotiation.

 

　　Israeli chief negotiator Tzipi Livni says the Washington meetings and the future ones will cause a spark of hope.

 

　　"It is our task to work together so that we can transform that spark of hope into something real and lasting."

 

　　In the next nine months, the two sides are going to hold secret talks to work out a final status agreement with one single objective: to end the decades-long conflict.

 

　　For CRI, I'm Xiaohong reporting from Washington.