Representatives of the international Quartet returned to Israel this week in an attempt to reanimate the peace process.

A first round of new talks had been planned for this visit but these are not yet happening.

The Palestinian Authority has issued a number of conditions that Israel must meet before it will agree to negotiations, including a further release of Palestinian prisoners.

Representatives of the Quartet have begun efforts to resume the Middle East peace process.

Negotiators met officials from Israel and the Palestinian Authority today in Jerusalem.

The Jordanian ruler has expressed his doubts about finding a solution to the conflict between Israel and the Palestinians.

In an interview with CNN, King Abdullah said that while he was "one of the most optimistic people" in the Middle East, the current situation did not bode well.

The former US Secretary of State has recalled the day when Ehud Olmert made a bold offer to secure peace between Israel and the Palestinians.

According to Condoleezza Rice, in 2008 the then Israeli Prime Minister promised to give the Palestinians up to 94 per cent of the land they wanted.

William Hague has warned that "time is running out" to find a solution to the conflict in the Middle East.

The Foreign Secretary, addressing the Conservative Party conference, said Britain wanted to see Jerusalem as a shared capital.

President Barack Obama is set to meet the Israeli and Palestinian leaders today in a last-ditch effort to avoid a confrontation at Friday's UN session.

The Palestinian Authority remains committed - at least in its public statements – to forcing a UN vote on a unilateral statehood bid.

In 1993 Israel and the Palestinian Liberation Organisation (PLO) finally reached agreement over the distribution of land with the Oslo Accords, fully named the "Declaration of Principles on Interim Self Government Arrangements".

This was the initial stage in the first direct attempts between the organisations to solve the ongoing Arab-Israeli conflict.