Israeli and Palestinian negotiators have met secretly in Jerusalem, a week after US-brokered peace talks were relaunched in the Holy City.
"A meeting was held today between the Palestinian delegation, headed by Saeb Erakat and Mohammad Shtayyeh, and the Israeli delegation of (Justice Minister) Tzipi Livni and Yitzhak Molcho," the official told AFP.
Details of Tuesday's discussions were not revealed, apparently consistent with a request from Washington last week for a strict news blackout.
The official added that US Secretary of State Kerry's special envoy Martin Indyk met Palestinian president Mahmud Abbas on Monday to keep up pressure to continue negotiations "despite continued settlement building, which is the biggest obstacle to talks carrying on."
Talks held last Wednesday, the fruit of months of intensive US diplomatic efforts to bring the two sides back to the negotiating table after a nearly three-year break, were held under a shroud of secrecy at an undisclosed location in Jerusalem.
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Abbas said all key issues were discussed but declined to elaborate because of the agreed news blackout.
The Wednesday meetings were overshadowed, however, by a new row over Israeli settlement plans for the occupied Palestinian territories.
In the run-up to the talks, Israel announced plans to build more than 2000 new Jewish settler homes in annexed east Jerusalem and elsewhere in the occupied West Bank, infuriating Palestinian officials.
