- Jordan is hosting the meeting in an effort to relaunch stalled peace talks
- The talks fell apart more than a year ago over Israeli settlements in the West Bank
- Negotiators from both sides will meet with representatives from the Middle East Quartet
Jerusalem (CNN) -- Israeli and Palestinian representatives will meet in Amman, Jordan, on Tuesday in an effort to relaunch negotiations between the two sides after more than a year of deadlock, Jordanian state media reported Sunday.
"Jordan's efforts are based on the belief that the two-state solution, which leads to the establishment of an independent and sovereign Palestinian national state, is a top Jordanian interest," a spokesman for the Jordanian Foreign Ministry said, according to the country's state-run Petra news agency.
Yoaz Hendel, chief media adviser to Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu, thanked Jordanian officials in a statement Sunday "for their efforts to bring the two sides together under the outline of international quartet."
Chief Palestinian negotiator Saeb Erakat also expressed his appreciation to Jordan's King Abdullah for his role in the breakthrough.
"This invitation is part of ongoing Jordanian efforts to compel Israel to comply with its international legal obligations and those under the Quartet Road Map, specifically its obligation to freeze all settlement construction in all the occupied Palestinian territory, including occupied East Jerusalem," Erakat said in a statement.
Netanyahu's special envoy, attorney Yitzhak Molcho, and Erakat will meet with representatives of the Middle East Quartet -- made up of the United States, the European Union, the United Nations and Russia.
Peace talks between the two sides fell apart over a year ago over disagreements on the issue of Israeli settlements in the West Bank.
In September, Palestinian Authority President Mahmoud Abbas made a bid for the United Nations to recognize a Palestinian state, a move Israel called premature without direct talks that address its longstanding security concerns.
Erakat called upon Israel to "seize this opportunity to stop all settlement construction, accept the two-state solution on the 1967 border, and release Palestinian prisoners, in order to have the conducive environment called for under the Quartet Statement of 23 September 2011, for meaningful and credible talks."
Netanyahu's spokesman Mark Regev told CNN Sunday: "We have said so before and will say this again, we are ready for immediate resumptions of peace talks without pre-conditions."
Source: http://rss.cnn.com/~r/rss/cnn_world/~3/ajrMowE-yhY/index.html
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