Israeli-Palestinian talks to begin this week

Secretary of State John Kerry spoke Sunday with Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas and Israeli President Benjamin Netanyahu, and confirmed that representatives for both sides would meet Monday in Washington to restart peace talks, according to State Department spokeswoman Jen Psaki.

The Palestinian president’s office confirmed receiving the U.S. invitation. This follows Israel’s approval Sunday of the release of 104 Palestinian prisoners – a confidence-building measure aimed at ending nearly three years of diplomatic standstill.

Abbas’s spokesman said the first meeting aims at developing a work plan to move forward with talks in the coming months.

The State Department anouncement said the Palestinians will be represented by Mohammad Shtayyeh and Saeb Erekat, their chief negotiatior, and the Israelis by Justice Minister Tzipi Livni and Yitzhak Molcho.

Despite some pushback from members of his own cabinet, Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu on Sunday secured the move to release over one hundred Palestinian prisoners, one day after annoucing his public support for the measure.

Netanyahu postponed the weekly meeting of ministers by an hour to make sure he had majority support for the measure, which he described as a painful but necessary to help end the three-year impasse in negotiations.

"This moment is not easy for me, is not easy for the cabinet ministers, and is not easy especially for the bereaved families, whose feelings I understand," Netanyahu said in broadcast remarks at the start of the meeting, referring to families who have lost members in militant attacks.

"But there are moments in which tough decisions must be made for the good of the nation and this is one of those moments," he said.

Hundreds of Palestinians marched in Ramallah, the capital of the West Bank, on Sunday to protest a return to negotiations with Israel, Maan News reported.

In Jerusalem, dozens of Israelis gathered outside the government complex to protest Israeli premier Netanyahu's decision to release 104 Palestinian prisoners, Ynet reported.

Israel's agreement to free the inmates iis seen as critical to U.S. hopes of convening Israeli and Palestinian negotiators to resume peace talks.

Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas has demanded that Israel free the prisoners, all held for more than 20 years, as a condition for resuming negotiations.

Netanyahu also suggested that freeing the prisoners would also be a test of Palestinian intentions, saying Israel would in the coming months "see whether we face a Palestinian side that wants, as we do, a genuine end to the conflict between us."

Officials said Netanyahu's plan called for freeing inmates in at least four stages over a nine-month period, with the first group being released over the next few weeks.

The Israeli cabinet is also expected to name Netanyahu as head of a four-member senior cabinet team charged with reviewing the 100 or so prisoners slated for release, among thousands of Arabs incarcerated by Israel, Israeli officials said.

The U.S.-brokered talks, part of a Kerry's six-visit shuttle diplomacy to the region this year, is expected to reconvene in Washington as early as Tuesday. The talks previously broke down in late 2010 in a dispute over Israeli settlement construction in the West Bank, which Palestinians say denies them a viable state.

Before the cabinet meeting, Netanyahu told ministers from his Likud party that Israel would pay a price if peace talks did not resume, according to one official who was there.

Kerry said a week ago the groundwork had been laid for a breakthrough but set no specific date for when the talks would recommence.

Al Jazeera and wire services