The Arab League have ruled out direct peace talks between Palestinians and Israel unless there are written guarantees from Tel Aviv about major issues.

"Moving from proximity talks into direct ones without any confirmation or guarantee on Israel’s seriousness means that we have entered into crisis management and not solving the crisis," Arab League Secretary General Amr Moussa said on Sunday.

Earlier this month, Moussa expressed his frustration at the lack of progress in proximity talks, describing them as "a comprehensive failure."

Moussa made the comments after his meeting with US special envoy to the Middle East George Mitchell in Egypt.

Mitchell is in the Middle East in yet another effort to help revive the stalled peace process which broke down in the wake of Israel’s deadly onslaught against the Gaza Strip in late December 2008, which left more than 1, 400 people dead.

The Palestinian Authority has been demanding a permanent end to Israeli settlement activities on Palestinian lands in the occupied West Bank as one of the pre-conditions to re-launch direct talks.

Earlier this month, Moussa expressed frustration at the lack of progress in the US-backed "proximity" talks which started in May, describing them as "a comprehensive failure."

Abbas has said he will not proceed to direct talks unless progress is made on the focal Palestinian issues of borders and security.

(Press TV)