BEIT-UL-MOQADDAS (AP) -- Washington's special Mideast envoy ended his latest round of shuttle diplomacy Sunday, again having failed to persuade the Israelis and Palestinians to resume peace talks.

George Mitchell spent more than an hour with Israel's prime minister and defense minister. Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu's office said the talks “continued their discussions on moving the peace process forward.”
Two lower-level Israeli officials will head to Washington this week for further discussions, it added.
Mitchell did not comment publicly after the meeting and was returning to Washington, U.S. officials said.
Mitchell, a former U.S. senator and mediator of Northern Ireland's peace deal, has been shuttling between Israelis and Palestinians for months, trying to restart talks that broke down late last year.
He met with Netanyahu and Palestinian Authority President Mahmoud Abbas last week before traveling to Cairo over the weekend to meet with Egyptian officials, who often play leading roles in mediating the conflict.
Mitchell appeared to have made little progress in persuading the adversaries to soften their positions.
Israel has refused to give in to U.S. pressure to freeze construction in Jewish settlements built in the West Bank and east Beit-ul-Moqaddas.
The Palestinians, who claim both areas as parts of a future independent state, said they won't resume talks without such an internationally mandated freeze.
They also want guarantees that an Israeli pullout from the West Bank and East Beit-ul-Moqaddas will be the basis of a final agreement. Israel captured both in the 1967 war.
“The Israelis need to acknowledge that the 1967 borders are the borders between the two states, and this is the foundation of any negotiations,” said Yasser Abed Rabbo, a top Abbas aide.
Netanyahu has signaled he wants to keep parts of the West Bank and says East Beit-ul-Moqaddas will remain in Israeli hands.
Abbas will be hard-pressed to back down after provoking outrage among his people for suspending efforts to bring Israel before a UN war-crimes tribunal for its conduct during last winter's Gaza war.
Sunday, Abbas defended his decision to agree to a six-month deferral of a vote on a UN report that alleges war crimes in Gaza by both Israel and the strip's Hamas rulers but hardened his rhetoric against Israel.
Complicating the peace mission is the deep rift between Palestinian governments in the West Bank and Gaza. Egyptian Foreign Minister Ahmed Aboul Gheit said Sunday that a reconciliation deal will not be signed Oct. 25 as had been expected.