London, April 29 (IANS): A US deadline for peace talks between Israel and the Palestinians has come to an end without the two side reaching any agreement, BBC reported Monday.
Direct talks had resumed in July after a three-year hiatus but quickly became strained.
The latest round was halted last week following the main Palestinian factions announcement of a political pact.
US Secretary of State John Kerry, who brokered the talks, has meanwhile issued a statement denying he called Israel "an apartheid state".
On Monday, in comments captured in a recording of a closed-door meeting, he warned that Israel risked becoming "an apartheid state" if a two-state solution was not reached soon.
But in his statement released early Tuesday, he said: "I do not believe, nor have I ever stated, publicly or privately, that Israel is an apartheid state or that it intends to become one."