U.S. Secretary of State John Kerry announced recently that Israel and Palestinian leaders have reached an agreement to resume direct talks in Washington next week.
The U.S. secretary of state made the announcement after meeting with the leaders of both sides this week.
However, John Kerry who is currently on a trip to the Middle East, did not give any details about the agreement, according to the BBC News.
Kerry said Israel and Palestine had "reached an agreement that establishes a basis for resuming direct final status negotiations between the Palestinians and the Israelis."
"This is a significant and welcome step forward," said the secretary of state, adding it was still "in the process of being formalized."
The last round of direct talks between the two came to an end three years ago over the issue of Israeli settlements in East Jerusalem and the West Bank.
When Hilary Clinton was secretary of state, she tried to navigate the talks between the two parties but failed to bring the two to a common ground.
Israel's settlement process once again re-started within weeks after the direct talks broke down.
President Shimon Peres of Israel said earlier in a statement, "From the latest information at my disposal, Secretary Kerry has succeeded in progressing the chance for opening peace talks.... The coming days are crucial and we are within touching distance."
"Through hard and deliberate work, we have been able to narrow those gaps very significantly," Kerry told reporters.
"We continue to get closer and I continue to be hopeful that the two sides will come to sit at the same table," said John Kerry.
Chief Israeli negotiator, Tzipi Livni, and head of the negotiation team from Palestine, Saeb Erekat, are scheduled to travel to Washington "next week or so" to begin the preliminary talks, according to the U.S. secretary of state.
