Israeli Palestinian peace talks to resume

Israeli and Palestinian negotiators will resume talks in Washington on Monday, the US state department has announced. The talks follow months of shuttle diplomacy by US Secretary of State John Kerry, and will be the first between the two countries since 2010. The statement came hours after Israel approved the release of 100 Palestinian prisoners with a vote of 13-7 by the cabinet; they will be released in stages over the next few months. US State Department spokeswoman Jen Psaki said the initial talks would begin on Monday evening and continue on Tuesday, adding that Mr Kerry had called both Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu of Israel and President Mahmoud Abbas of Palestine on Sunday; and said that they had both agreed that the talks would "serve as an opportunity to develop a procedural work plan for how the parties can proceed with the negotiations in the coming months". Israel's delegation will be led by Justice Minister Tzipi Livni, and Palestine's delegation will be led by chief negotiator Saeb Erekat.