Ammon News - AMMONNEWS - Palestinians and Israelis have reached a deal to extend peace talks beyond an April 30 deadline, Al Arabiya News Channel reported on Thursday.

The deal will see an unspecified number of Palestinian prisoners released from Israel jails and a freeze on settlement construction in the West Bank.

In exchange, the Palestinians will suspend their plans to join 15 international bodies and treaties and the United States will release jailed Israeli spy Jonathan Pollard, according to sources.

The U.S.-brokered negotiations plunged into crisis last week after Israel, demanding a Palestinian commitment to continue talking after the end of the month, failed to carry out the promised release of about two dozen Palestinian prisoners.

Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas responded by signing 15 global treaties, including the Geneva Conventions on the conduct of war and occupations, on behalf of the State of Palestine, a defiant move that surprised Washington and angered Israel, Reuters reported.

U.S. Secretary of State John Kerry, who had hoped to reach a peace deal by April 29, said on Friday that Washington was evaluating whether it was worth continuing its role in the Middle East talks, saying it was "not an open-ended effort".

Israel announced on Wednesday a partial freeze in high-level contacts with the Palestinians in retaliation for their signing international conventions it contends they are not entitled to endorse before formal establishment of a state.

Underscoring the Palestinians' main concern - economic measures imposed by Israel - the Arab League said Arab states must meet their financial commitments to the Palestinian Authority "to provide an Arab financial safety net."


*Agencies