Middle East peace negotiations will resume today more than 15 months after the last round of talks collapsed.

Israeli and Palestinian negotiations will meet in Amman, Jordan, to discuss the future of the peace process. The talks have been arranged through Quartet mediators, but according to officials are not formal negotiations, but are intended to find a path to break the deadlock.

Saeb Erekat, the chief Palestinian negotiator, described today's meeting as "last-minute efforts to salvage the situation". Mr Erekat will sit down with Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu's peace envoy, Yitzhak Molcho.

Mark Regev, a spokesman for the Israeli government, said he hoped the meeting would "bring about as soon as possible the resumption of direct talks between Israelis and Palestinians.

"The only way to achieve peace and reconciliation is through dialogue."