ANKARA
US State Department Deputy Spokesperson Marie Harf said on Monday that the Middle East peace process was ongoing despite an Israeli attack on a Palestinian refugee camp which killed three people.
The incident of violence which occurred when Israeli troops raided a Palestinian refugee camp in the West Bank did not derail the peace negotiations, Harf said.
"No scheduled meetings have been canceled" due to the violent raid which killed three people, she said, dismissing media reports that one meeting scheduled for Monday had been called off.
When a journalist asked is she could clarify whether or not this specific meeting had been canceled, Harf refused to either confirm or reject the claim about the status of the meeting.
She said the State Department would not get into the specifics of every meeting which takes place within the peace process for so as to ensure the talks "the best chance for success."
Chemical attack evidence 'authentic'
Harf said on Monday that President Obama had yet to make a decision on how to respond to a massive deadly chemical weapons attack near Syrian capital Damascus, adding that intelligence analysis of the attack was ongoing.
Harf characterized the photo and video evidence as authentic, and ruled out the possibility of it having been tampered with.
She repeated the US's position on the UN fact-finding mission on the ground, saying that the Syrian government's reluctance to allow investigation quickly, among several other factors, had decreased the credibility of any evidence that the team might find in the Ghouta region near Damascus.
Regarding the situation in Egypt, Harf reiterated that the US was still reviewing its annual aid to the Egyptian government.
An Israeli delegation arrives in U.S. for Syria, Egypt and Iran talks
A senior Israeli delegation visited the White House to discuss the Syrian crisis, the latest developments in Egypt and the nuclear showdown with Iran.
During the visit, U.S. National Security Advisor Susan Rice met Yaakov Amidror, the outgoing Israeli national security advisor.
The talks centered on "Iran, Egypt, Syria, and a range of other regional security issues," said U.S. National Security Council spokeswoman Caitlin Hayden.
The talks came as the US is stepping up plans for possible military action against Syria.
