"I invite you to start serious political negotiations according to an agreed agenda," Abbas appealed to Israeli Prime Minister Ehud Olmert at the meeting, which also groups Egyptian President Hosni Mubarak and Jordanian King Abdullah II.

Abbas said the negotiations with Israel aim at the establishment of an independent Palestinian state with Jerusalem as its capital and existing alongside Israel, adding Olmert should not pass up "this historic opportunity" to make peace with the Palestinians.

Meanwhile, Olmert said he was optimistic over Monday's meeting with Abbas to create a new hope for peace after Hamas' takeover of the Gaza Strip.

"An opportunity has been created to advance seriously the political process in the region," Olmert said, adding "I do not intend to let this opportunity pass."

The latest diplomacy maneuver proposed by Mubarak came amid chaos in the Palestinian territories where Hamas seized control of Gaza by violence and Abbas, in response, sacked the Hamas-led unity government and formed an emergency government led by Prime Minister Salam Fayyad.