国际英语新闻：U.S. invites Israeli, Palestinian leaders to direct peace talks in Washington

However, Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas said he will not jump to direct talks, which halted in 2008, before achieving progress on security and border issues.

Recently, Abbas has indicated he could go to direct talks if they were based on a Quartet March statement, which called for establishing the Palestinian state based on borders that existed before 1967, setting a time frame for negotiations and suspending all Israeli settlement activities.

Israeli Prime Minister Netanyahu, who was apparently placated by Clinton's "no precondition" remarks, hailed on Friday the U.S. invitation immediately after her announcement.

The Palestinian side on Friday welcomed Quartet's statement and Abbas has called for an urgent meeting for the Palestine Liberation Organization (PLO) to respond to the U.S. call.

Although the direct talks are believed to be underway soon, the prospects of the peace process remains murky.

"It will be difficult, as the number of issues between both sides are many. But the fact that direct talks are taking place is a step in the right direction," Andrew Tabler, a Middle East expert at the Washington Institute for Near East Policy, told Xinhua.

It is hoped that the resumption of direct negotiations can give Netanyahu's central-right coalition some ground to extend Israel's 10-month moratorium on West Bank settlement constructions which expires on Sept. 26. Abbas has feared all efforts would be wasted if the settlement building started after direct talks began.

"I think the U.S. administration has developed much better ties with Israel over the last few months, which would help avert past announcements of settlements at unexpected times that could be detrimental to diplomacy," said Tabler.

Starting the direct talks in Washington marks a temporary but important success for Obama who has put Middle East peace process among his diplomatic priorities and spent more than a year bringing the two sides together.

"He believes progress on Arab-Israeli peace helps to sweep the rug out from under Iran and other actors in the region detrimental to U.S.," he said.