US President Barack Obama has told Palestinian Authority President Mahmoud Abbas he must take “risks” for peace.
Mr Obama told reporters at the White House that the search for a two-state solution remained elusive but he hoped to see progress in the coming weeks.
Mr Abbas said he considered the current round of talks a historic opportunity.
The US wants both sides to approve a “framework” accord that would extend the negotiations beyond next month’s deadline for a final deal in July.
But Palestinian officials say the prospect is “disappearing day by day”.
Prisoner exchange
Mr Obama and Mr Kerry brought the Israelis and Palestinians back to the negotiating table last summer after a three-year hiatus, and said at the time that their objective was to achieve a “final-status agreement over the course of the next nine months”.
“Start Quote
There is frustration that voices in the Hamas government are not being heard and that pressing issues related to the Gaza Strip are being neglected”
Rushdi Abdu Alouf BBC News, Gaza CityAlthough negotiations have taken place in secret, there has been little sign of progress and US officials say they are now trying to forge a framework that “narrows the gaps” on core issues and allows the process to continue beyond 29 April.
The issues include the borders between Israel and a future Palestinian state; the status of Jerusalem; Israel’s insistence that it be recognised as a Jewish state; the Palestinians’ demand that their refugees be allowed to return to their former homes in what is now Israel; and security in the West Bank, with Israel wanting a long-term presence in the Jordan Valley.
At the start of his meeting with the Palestinian leader on Monday, Mr Obama said: “We are going to have to take some tough political decisions and risks if we’re to move it forward.”
“My hope is that we can continue to see progress in the coming days and weeks,” he added.
Mr Abbas said he was hopeful that the Israeli authorities would release a fourth batch of 26 long-term Palestinian prisoners by 29 March, in line with a deal that saw the talks resume.
