THE Middle East quartet has strongly denounced Israeli moves to build 1,600 new homes in East Jerusalem and urged the Israeli government and Palestinians to resume peace negotiations.

In a hard-hitting statement after a meeting in Moscow, the UN, the EU, Russia and the US condemned Israel's “unilateral” construction plans and said the status of Jerusalem could only be resolved through negotiations between both parties.

The UN secretary general, Ban Ki-moon, said “The quartet condemns the decision by the government of Israel to advance planning for new housing units in East Jerusalem.”

The quartet expected that talks between Israelis and Palestinians should lead to a negotiated settlement that “within 24 months” ends the occupation of Palestinian territories begun in 1967. The settlement should result “in the emergence of an independent, democratic, and viable Palestinian state living side by side in peace and security with Israel and its other neighbours”.

The quartet includes Hillary Clinton for the US; Russia's foreign secretary, Sergei Lavrov; Tony Blair, the quartet's special representative; and Lady (Catherine) Ashton, the EU foreign policy chief.

The statement expressed deep alarm at the deteriorating situation in Gaza, urging Israel to lift its blockade of the Gaza Strip for both humanitarian and commercial traffic and calling for a “durable resolution to the Gaza crisis”.

Clinton said she had spoken to the Israel prime minister, Binyamin Netanyahu, following his apparent offer of “confidence-building measures” to encourage the renewal of peace talks. She described the conversation as “very useful and productive. We don't believe unilateral action by any parties are helpful. We've made this clear.”

None of the quartet parties was willing to say what pressure they were prepared to put on Israel should it ignore the statement.

The quartet called on Israel to freeze all settlement activity “including natural growth”, to dismantle outposts erected since March 2001, and to “refrain from demolitions and evictions in East Jerusalem”. It also appealed for the international community to back the Palestinians' commitment to build an independent state by offering immediate and concrete support.

A statement from Netanyahu's office said he proposed a series of steps that would make it easier for the Palestinians to join the talks. He did not specify what these would be, but they could include easing Israeli roadblocks in the West Bank, the withdrawal of Israeli troops from more parts of the West Bank and the release of Palestinian prisoners.

He did not announce, as the US had demanded, a freeze on the construction of Jewish homes in Ramat Shlomo in East Jerusalem, the key sticking point.

But diplomats in Washington, Moscow and Jerusalem said Netanyahu had privately promised a temporary freeze on new construction. The work, while not cancelled, is to be postponed for several years. Ban said he would be travelling to Gaza to see the situation on the ground there himself, following Thursday's visit by Lady Ashton.

— The Guardian, London