"We are closer to the road back to the peace process. Have we yet made a breakthrough? I can't be that optimistic yet," Shaath said, reacting to reports on Tuesday stating that Israel and the Palestinians had made great progress towards peace.

Quoting "high-level" Egyptian sources, Egyptian state news agency MENA reported on Tuesday that key players in the search for peace had reached an understanding on a plan towards solving the Middle East conflict, and had agreed on an Egyptian proposal to organize an international conference on the matter next summer in Washington.

"An important understanding that could constitute an agreement in principle has been reached by Egypt, Israel, the Palestinians and the significant international parties -- the United States and the European Union -- on a comprehensive solution to the Israeli-Palestinian conflict," MENA said.

Ahead of the scheduled election on January 9, aimed at finding a replacement for recently deceased Palestinian president Yasser Arafat, "there is really coordination at a lower level but not (a) breakthrough in the talks," Shaath told reporters in Oslo, where he was attending a donor meeting.

"We hope that after the election there will be an opportunity for restarting serious negotiations," he added.

Earlier on Wednesday, Palestinian negotiations minister Saeb Erakat also said it was premature to talk about a new peace plan for the Middle East, and an Israeli official denied that a new peace plan or international peace conference were on the agenda.