US Middle East envoy meets Israeli officials

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US Middle East envoy George Mitchell has met with senior Israeli officials. The talks are the latest efforts from the Obama administration to push forward the stalled peace process in the region.

But as Wang Guan explains, the road ahead might be bumpier than the American envoy hoped for.

In Jerusalem, Mitchell said the US will continue to help bring about an early resumption of Israeli-Palestinian negotiations.

George Mitchell, US Middle East envoy, said, "Because we believe that's an essential step toward achieving the comprehensive peace to which I earlier referred."

But the task of getting the talks restarted has proved difficult.

Before meeting Mitchell, Israel's foreign minister Avigdor Lieberman had hinted that a deal quickly ending the Israeli-Palestinian conflict was not realistic. He had even called Washington's goal of a comprehensive peace an "illusion".

He added that anyone who believes in a quick solution to end the decades-old conflict "doesn't understand the situation."