Special report: Palestine-Israel Relations

    RAMALLAH, Aug. 27 (Xinhua) -- U.S. Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice asked Israeli and Palestinian top negotiators to intensify their discussions in the coming weeks, Palestinian negotiator Saeb Erekat said on Wednesday.

    Erekat added that Rice also asked to meet the negotiators in New York on the sideline of the United Nations General Assembly session next month.

    It is unclear if Israeli foreign minister Tzipi Livni, who heads the Israeli negotiation crew, will be available in New York next month since she has been busy in the elections inside her Kadima party.

    Rice, whose country sponsored the resume of the Israeli-Palestinian talks in November, heard from Livni and the top Palestinian negotiator Ahmed Qurei in a three-way meeting in Jerusalem on Tuesday.

    According to Erekat, the meeting with Rice revealed "a gap overall issues" between the Palestinians and the Israelis and Rice suggested that things need "more decisions rather than more negotiations."

    The negotiations' goal is striking a deal allowing the establishment of a Palestinian statehood alongside Israel before the end of this year. During the meeting, "it was stressed that the deal should include the entire issues without any exception and without any partial or interim agreements," according to Erekat.

    The Palestinians also demanded Israel to stop building and expanding settlements in West Bank and East Jerusalem. When Rice met Abbas Tuesday in Ramallah, he asked for her help to convince Israel to release more Palestinian prisoners, Erekat said.

    The expansion of the settlements on what would be part of the Palestinian statehood prevents the pace talks from achieving a breakthrough. The Palestinian National Authority (PNA) also accuses Israel of not carrying out its obligations under the Road Map peace plan.