"Egypt supports the Palestinian president's commitment to the resumption of negotiations based on clear parameters and the halting of Israeli settlements," Amr said in a statement.

He was speaking after talks with Palestinian negotiator Saeb Erakat and the Palestinian ambassador to the United Nations, Riad Mansur, in Cairo.

The international Quartet which groups the European Union, Russia, the United Nations and the United States, had urged the two sides to return to talks within a month, with the goal of reaching a deal before the end of 2012.

The Palestinians insist that they will not join negotiations without a settlement freeze and clear parameters for the talks.

On Wednesday, US Secretary of State Hillary Clinton had urged Egypt as well as the diplomatic Quartet to pressure the Palestinians and Israel to seek a peace deal.

Israel called Sunday for an immediate return to peace talks under the framework of a proposal by the Quartet -- the United States, the European Union, the United Nations and Russia.

But the Jewish state said the plan included no preconditions -- an interpretation the Palestinians quickly rejected.

"We welcome the Israeli government's announcement today expressing readiness to resume negotiations with the Palestinians, as called for by the Quartet," US State Department spokeswoman Victoria Nuland said in a statement.

"The Palestinians expressed support for the Quartet approach on September 29," she added.

"The US once again calls on both parties to resume negotiations without preconditions, on the timetable proposed by the Quartet, as the best means to advance their interests, resolve their differences, and fulfill the president's two-state vision."

The Palestinians said earlier that Israel could not say it had accepted the Quartet statement without announcing a halt to Israeli settlement construction and a willingness to use the lines that existed before the 1967 Six Day War as a basis for negotiations on future borders.