Secretary of State John Kerry has wrapped up a visit to Israel and the Occupied Territories without an agreement on resuming peace talks. Negotiations have stalled since 2010 over Israel’s refusal to halt settlement construction in the occupied West Bank. As he left Israel, Kerry claimed he had made progress in bridging gaps between the two sides.

Secretary of State John Kerry: “I’m pleased to tell you that we have made real progress on this trip. And I believe that with a little more work, the start of final status negotiations could be within reach. We started out with very wide gaps, and we have narrowed those considerably.”

Israel announced the construction of dozens of settlement homes in East Jerusalem last week just before Kerry arrived.