Nimer Hammad, President Mahmoud Abbas’ chief political adviser, told the Voice of Palestine Radio that “We will not return to direct talks unless Israel agrees to full settlement freeze, including in East Jerusalem, and accepts the principle of the two-state solution based on 1967 borders.”

Hammad said that “if Israel accepts the two conditions then the Palestinian side will hold consultations with the Arab brothers to determine the next step after the Jan. 26 deadline.”

He said it was up to Israel to decide whether it wanted the direct peace talks to resume. "The ball is on their court.”

Last September, the Quartet, which consists of the United States, European Union, United Nations and Russia, gave the Palestinian Authority and Israel a Jan. 26 deadline for submitting their proposals on borders and security which will provide the basis for renewed direct negotiations.

Hammad’s remarks came a day after Palestinian and Israeli envoys met for the third time in Amman in a bid to resume peace talks. The sides agreed to meet again on Jan. 25, a day before the Quartet’s deadline.

US Secretary of State Hillary Clinton asked Abbas to extend the deadline. Clinton has pledged that her country would continue to exert more efforts in order to achieve peace between Palestinians and Israelis in 2012, Mahmoud Al-Aloul, a member of Fatah’s Central Committee, said.

A Jordanian official said that Palestinian and Israeli negotiators stuck to their differences on the issues of borders and security during the third round of talks that was sponsored by Jordan.

The meeting on Saturday between chief Palestinian negotiator Saeb Erekat and Israeli envoy Yitzhak Molcho was ”characterized by frank and serious discussion, but the rift persisted on issues tackled,” Foreign Ministry spokesman Mohammad Kayed was quoted as saying by the official Petra news agency.

However, a “substantive discussion” was conducted between the two sides on the twin issues of security and borders in compliance with the guidelines set by the Quartet,” he added.

Meanwhile, the Israeli daily Yediot Ahronot said Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu will unveil his plan on borders and security in March. The report quoted government officials as saying that Netanyahu will present his plan during a summit Israel is trying to arrange between him and Abbas at that time.

It added that the plan is scheduled to outline clear security positions such as a demilitarized Palestinian Authority, Israeli rule in the Jordan Rift Valley for several decades as well as clear border lines in the West Bank.

According to the plan, the big Jewish settlement blocs in Palestinian territories will remain inside Israel while other territories will be transferred to the Palestinians. Some settlements outside the main blocs will also remain under Israeli sovereignty.

Netanyahu is adamantly opposed to a return to the 1967 lines and has repeatedly stressed that Jerusalem must remain united under Israeli rule, the Yediot report said.

It said that the revelation of the plan may cause a stir among his coalition partners and cause the general elections in Israel to be advanced.

The US-brokered peace talks between Israel and the Palestinians collapsed after Israel refused to extend a 10- month moratorium over freezing settlement constructions in the West Bank and East Jerusalem. In response, the Palestinian leadership decided to go to the United Nations to seek recognition of an independent state.