( dpa ) - Israelis and Palestinians intend resuming peace negotiations, which Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas suspended over the weekend, US Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice said in Jerusalem Wednesday.
She told a news conference with Israeli Foreign Minister Tzipi Livni that the parties had told her they "intend to resume the negotiations and that they are in contact with one another as to how to bring this about."
Abbas had earlier told reporters in Ramallah that there peace talks would resume "after there is calm" in the Gaza Strip
The Palestinian president suspended the negotiations on Sunday, to protest an Israeli air and ground offensive in the Gaza Strip launched after an intensification of Palestinian rocket attacks on towns and villages adjacent to the salient.
Over 120 Palestinians and two Israeli soldiers were killed in the five days of fighting and militants showered Israel with 258 rockets, including Grad-type Katyushas.