Israeli, Palestinian negotiators meet in secret

All main issues were discussed at the meeting, however, the officials are yet to reach an understanding

The Israeli and Palestinian chief negotiators met in Jerusalem under secrecy, a media report said.

A Palestinian official told Israel Radio that Tzipi Livni and Saeb Erekat Saturday evening "discussed all the main issues but have yet to reach any understandings".

The two leaders are scheduled to meet again Tuesday. Saturday's meeting did not include Martin Indyk, the US envoy to the Middle East, Xinhua reported.

In recent weeks, Israelis officials and Palestinians have met under secrecy, without any press briefings, public statements or even announcement about the meetings, the report said.

A possible reason for the silence surrounding the talks, which commenced July 30 in Washington after a three-year halt, was a desire to quieten objections over Israel's recently announced plans to build more than 1,600 new housing units in the West Bank and east Jerusalem, on the territories annexed during the Mideast 1967 War.

The decision put a question mark on the future of the peace talks, which came to a halt in 2010 over a dispute on Israeli settlement activities in the West Bank.