The first round of talks ended with the US confirming that special envoy George Mitchell will return to the region next week.

The US urged both sides to keep up the effort after Mr Mitchell met the Palestinian president on May 9.

Mr Mitchell will shuttle between the Israeli and Palestinian leaders to try to narrow their differences on the terms of Palestinian statehood.

He has already held several meetings with Mr Abbas and Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu in the past week.

Mr Netanyahu said on May 9 that he hoped the indirect talks would quickly move to direct negotiations.

"Peace cannot be brought about from a distance, or with a remote control," he told a meeting of the Israeli cabinet.

"We are neighbours of the Palestinians and they are our neighbours. Over time one cannot assume that that we will reach decisions and agreements on critical issues such as security and our national interests and their interests if we don't sit in the same room."