Rice says Palestinian-Israeli talks to resume

US Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice said yesterday Israel and the Palestinians had agreed to resume peace talks suspended over an Israeli offensive in the Gaza Strip, but she did not specify a date.

Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas said earlier the negotiations could not get under way again until Israel reached a ceasefire with Gaza militants behind cross-border rocket attacks.

Abbas' comments touched off a flurry of behind-the-scenes lobbying by Rice with the Palestinians. She later told a news conference that a truce was not a condition for restarting the US-brokered talks on Palestinian statehood.