The Quartet of mediators in the Middle East peace process called Friday on Israel and the Palestinians to resume direct peace talks in Washington on September 2, a statement on the Russian Foreign Ministry's website said.
The Middle East Quartet of negotiators, comprising Russia, the United States, the European Union and the United Nations, reiterated its call for the Israeli and Palestinian sides to avoid inflammatory rhetoric and show mutual restraint.
Earlier on Friday, U.S. Secretary of State Hillary Clinton invited Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu and Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas to Washington on September 2 to relaunch negotiations on a peace settlement.
Netanyahu said in a statement that he would attend the talks, adding that although reaching a deal would be difficult, it was possible.
The Quartet statement added that the four parties would meet with Arab League states in New York in September to review the situation.
In March the Quartet slammed illegal Israeli settlement construction in the West Bank and East Jerusalem and urged the both sides to reach a peace agreement within 24 months.
The Palestinians have so far cited ongoing Israeli settlement construction in the West Bank and East Jerusalem, both occupied by Israel since the 1967 Arab-Israeli War, as the main obstacle to resuming peace talks.
Israeli-Palestinian direct peace talks came to a halt in December 2008, when Israel launched an attack on the Gaza Strip in a bid to put an end to the firing of homemade rockets at southern Israel by Palestinian militants based in the enclave. The conflict left 1,300 Palestinians and 13 Israelis dead.
MOSCOW, August 20 (RIA Novosti)
