U.S. sees 'gaps narrowing' between Israel, Palestinians

Despite appearing to have collapsed last week, U.S.-mediated negotiations to extend peace talks between Israel and the Palestinian leadership have yielded some progress, according to the State Department – although it denied reports from regional media that a deal was imminent.

"Our negotiating team and both parties remain in intensive negotiation," State Department spokeswoman Jen Psaki told a regular briefing on Thursday. "They had another meeting today. The gaps are narrowing but any speculations about an agreement are premature at this time."

Asked precisely what the negotiators were trying to achieve, Psaki said: "We are working to determine what the path forward is for these negotiations."

The talks, which began in July in an effort to agree on a framework for negotiations that would conclude the two-decades-old Oslo Peace Process, plunged into crisis last week when Israel failed to carry out a promised release of about two dozen Palestinian prisoners. The Israeli side demanded a Palestinian commitment to continue talking beyond an April 29 deadline for agreeing a framework for final-status negotiations.

Palestinian Authority President Mahmoud Abbas responded to Israel's prisoner decision by signing treaty agreements to join 15 global conventions last week, in defiance of U.S. and Israeli demands that the Palestinians refrain from steps toward greater U.N. recognition while peace talks were underway.

An Israeli official told Reuters Thursday that Israel would impose sanctions on the Palestinians in apparent retaliation for Abbas' move, but said the Israeli side would otherwise press ahead with peace talks. 

Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu on Wednesday had, AP reported, tried to turn up the heat on Abbas by ordering his ministers to cease all meetings with Palestinian counterparts.

Earlier on Thursday, Saudi news outlet Al-Arabiya reported that a deal had been struck to extend peace talks beyond the current deadline. The deal, Al-Arabiya said, was similar to one that collapsed last week in which the U.S. would release convicted Israeli spy Jonathan Pollard from a North Carolina prison in order to coax Israel into keeping its agreement to free a group of longtime Palestinian prisoners.

Israel's Channel 2 television also reported an imminent deal, citing “sources in Washington” as saying “the parties are to sign an agreement to extend negotiations beyond April 29.”

But chief Palestinian negotiator Saeb Erekat told Al Jazeera the Al-Arabiya report and others like it were not correct. There was no official confirmation of a deal from the Israelis, either.

Psaki added Thursday that the U.S. mediator, Martin Indyk, would be returning to Washington for consultations "in the coming days" but would head back to the region next week.

The difficulties faced by Washington in simply keeping the two sides discussing a framework for final-status talks underscores the distance between them over the substantial issues requiring resolution in such talks, such as where to draw the border between Israel and a Palestinian state, the fate of Palestinian refugees of Israeli settlers, and the status of Jerusalem.

Al Jazeera and wire services