国际英语新闻：Middle East direct talks may be "last chance for peace": Clinton

WASHINGTON, Sept. 3 (Xinhua) -- U.S. State Secretary Hillary Clinton on Friday urged the Palestinians and Israelis to grasp " maybe the last chance for a very long time" to achieve peace.

Clinton, speaking in a joint interview with Israeli and Palestinian media, said time is not on the side of "either Israeli or Palestinian aspirations for security, peace, and a state."

Under the mediation of the United States, Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas and Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu on Thursday relaunched direct talks in Washington, ending a 20-month hiatus.

Both Netanyahu and Abbas said they are strongly committed to the peace effort in their remarks at the direct talks.

But analysts are pessimistic that a peace deal can be achieved within a one-year timeline, given the two sides' huge differences on issues including the status of Jerusalem, Jewish settlements and Palestinian refugees.

"I will be the first to tell you it is very difficult. I cannot change history. I cannot take an eraser to the history books and change everything that has happened between you for so many years, " admitted Clinton.

"But what we can do is offer a different future. But it takes courage to accept that," she added.