British Foreign Secretary Margaret Beckett said on Tuesday that there exists a window of opportunity to revive the long-stalled peace process between Israel and the Palestinians, local daily Yedioth Ahronoth reported on its website.

"If we proceed carefully, there exists at the moment a possibility to push the peace process forward," Beckett was quoted as saying after talks with Israeli Foreign Minister Tzipi Livni.

Beckett said that renewing Israeli-Palestinian peace talks was as much an interest of both sides as it is for moderate Arab states, Yedioth Ahronoth reported.

For her part, Livni underscored the importance of keeping up pressure on the governing Palestinian Hamas (Islamic Resistance Movement) to comply with demands by the international community that it renounce violence, recognize Israel and accept past agreements between Israel and the Palestinians, according to Yedioth Ahronoth.

"It is very important to meet with the moderate group of Palestinians in order to put on the table Israel's important needs, " Livni was quoted as saying, adding that the U.S.-backed road map peace plan should be the foundation for talks with the Palestinians.

Beckett arrived in Israel on Monday evening for a two-day visit, during which she is also going to meet with Israeli Prime Minister Ehud Olmert, Defense Minister Amir Peretz and other senior Israeli officials.

Source: Xinhua