US President Barack Obama has urged the Israelis and Palestinians to resume direct peace talks before a settlement freeze expires in September.

美国总统奥巴马敦促以色列和巴基斯坦在九月以色列定居点停建到期之前重新开始直接和谈。

He spoke¹ after Oval Office talks with Israeli PM Benjamin Netanyahu, who said it was "high time（应该立即做某事的时候） " for direct talks.

The two leaders also played down（贬低，降低） any suggestion of a rift²（裂缝，不和） between the US and Israel, with Mr Obama saying the bond was "unbreakable".

Mr Obama praised Israel for announcing it would ease its Gaza Strip blockade（阻塞，封锁） .

The US president said he hoped direct peace talks would resume "well before" Israel's 10-month moratorium³（暂停，中止） on building new settlements in the West Bank expired at the end of September.

The Israeli prime minister has been under pressure from his right-wing coalition⁴ not to cave in（塌落，认输） to US calls to extend the freeze.

"I believe Prime Minister Netanyahu wants peace. I think he is willing to take risks for peace," said Mr Obama.

Mr Netanyahu said steps were being taken in the coming days and weeks to further the peace process, but he gave no further details.

The Palestinians withdrew from direct negotiations⁵ after Israel launched the Operation Cast Lead offensive in Gaza in late 2008.

Scheduled indirect talks were called off in March this year when Israel approved plans for 1,600 homes in East Jerusalem, where the Palestinians want the capital of their future state.

'Tougher' sanctions

That announcement, as US Vice-President Joe Biden was visiting to launch the negotiations, triggered a crisis in relations between Israel and its greatest ally, Washington.

The US president gave Mr Netanyahu a frosty（严寒的，冷淡的） reception at the White House during their last encounter later that month.

Indirect talks finally got under way in May with US Middle East envoy⁶ George Mitchell shuttling between the two sides in Jerusalem and Ramallah in the West Bank.

The Palestinians have refused to sit down with Mr Netanyahu until he agrees to freeze construction in areas they want for an independent state. But Israel recently said it has no intention of doing that.

Mr Netanyahu warned during the White House talks that the main threat facing Israel was Iran's nuclear programme, although Tehran denies claims it is building atomic weapons.

The Israeli prime minister praised new US sanctions on Iran that Mr Obama signed last week, but urged "much tougher" measures from other nations.

It was Mr Obama and Mr Netanyahu's first meeting since Israel's May raid on a Gaza-bound aid flotilla（小舰队） that killed nine Turkish activists⁷ and triggered a regional diplomatic crisis.

Mr Netanyahu was snubbed（冷落，严厉斥责） by President Obama during their last encounter in March, when the US president refused even to allow a photo of their meeting to be released.