Chief Palestinian negotiator Saeb Erekat will on Monday meet U.S. Secretary of State John Kerry to pursue efforts to kick start the stalled Palestinian-Israeli peace process, the State Department announced on Friday.
State Department spokeswoman Jen Psaki told reporters that Kerry would receive a Palestinian delegation led by Erekat for talks on how to move forward in the Middle East peace process and to discuss the situation in the war-ravaged Gaza Strip.
Kerry, who had failed in his bid to resume the peace negotiations earlier this year, was also due to discuss with Erekat how to reduce tension in occupied East Jerusalem, where Israel had imposed strict restrictions on the Palestinians' access to the holy sites.