Two months after the direct Israeli-Palestinian peace negotiations broke down, effort by the U. S. to restart them seems stumbling.

Israeli army bulldozers demolished the mosque and 7 houses on Thursday in Yarza Village, witnesses said on Nov. 25, 2010. [Xinhua]

When Israel's 10-month freeze on Jewish settlement construction in the West Bank ended in September, so did the U.S.-sponsored peace talks between the two parties. The Palestinians insist that the negotiations can only be continued after settlement construction halts.

Ever since then there has been frenetic diplomatic activity in public and behind the scenes as the U.S. administration coax the parties to resume talks. Israel will receive some 20 F-35 fighter jets and additional unspecified military aid from Washington in exchange for a 90-day extension of the building freeze.

There has been speculation that the U.S. would make some kind of offer to the Palestinians as well, but Yasser Abed Rabbo, a senior Palestine Liberation Organization (PLO) official, said Wednesday that the Palestinians "have not entered any kind of trade-off with the United States."

Analysts told Xinhua that the U.S. is hampered by the fact that there is very little tangible it can offer, but they disagree on whether this is based on U.S. weakness or on exaggerated demands.