JERUSALEM — President Mahmoud Abbas of the Palestinian Authority sent a letter to Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu of Israel on Tuesday, reiterating that for peace talks to resume, Israel must stop settlement building in the West Bank and East Jerusalem and accept the 1967 borders as a basis for a two-state solution.
The letter was hand-delivered by Saeb Erekat, the chief Palestinian negotiator, and Majed Faraj, the Palestinian intelligence chief, to Mr. Netanyahu at his Jerusalem office, where he was joined by his chief negotiator, Isaac Molho. Neither side made the text public, but drafts of the letter, which was several months in the making, have been leaked and confirmed in recent weeks.
Mr. Netanyahu’s office issued a short statement afterward, saying that he would reply to Mr. Abbas in two weeks and that both sides hoped that the exchange would help find the way to advance peace. Mr. Erekat said the same by telephone.
Israeli-Palestinian talks have essentially been frozen since the fall of 2008, although there have been numerous efforts by Washington to move them forward. In 2010, at President Obama’s urging, Mr. Abbas and Mr. Netanyahu held three meetings after Israel carried out a partial 10-month moratorium on settlement construction in the West Bank.
The Palestinians have said that the halt should continue and include East Jerusalem. The Israelis have countered that they, too, have demands of the Palestinians — including recognizing Israel as a Jewish state — but that the talks should proceed without preconditions. So far, neither side has yielded.
In January, Jordan tried to broker a resumption of the negotiations, but after five meetings the effort came undone.
The Palestinian letter also expresses regret that Israel opposes the Palestinian Authority’s efforts to reconcile with Hamas.
The Palestinian Authority prime minister, Salam Fayyad, was widely expected to be the delegation’s leader at Tuesday’s letter presentation to Mr. Netanyahu, but he chose not to participate. Officials in his office offered no explanation.
The meeting on Tuesday came as Palestinians marked a day of solidarity with the 4,000 Palestinian prisoners held by Israel. About 1,200 prisoners began a hunger strike, according to a prison department spokeswoman, but it was unclear how long it would last. About 10 have already been on such a strike. A prisoner who had fasted for 66 days to protest his detention without charge was due to be released Tuesday as part of a deal he made with the Israeli authorities in February.
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