US Secretary of State Colin Powell has urged Palestinians to seize the chance created by an Israeli plan to pull out of the Gaza Strip.
After talks with Palestinian Prime Minister Ahmed Qurie in the Jordanian capital Amman, Mr Powell said President George W Bush was still committed to the establishment of a Palestinian state.
It was Mr Qurie's highest-level meeting with US officials since he took office in November and took place at a time of Palestinian fury at Washington for giving unprecedented assurances to Israel in support of the Gaza pullout plan.
"We think that in recent weeks, with the announcement by the Israelis that they intend to leave Gaza and certain ... settlements in the West Bank, we have been given a new opportunity and we hope to seize that opportunity," Mr Powell said.
"I think that the Palestinians want to seize the opportunity," he said.
But he added that Palestinians wanted to know more about the proposal and see what restrictions it contained that would be to their disadvantage.
"Frankly we have to wait and see what the proposal actually is," Mr Powell said.
Many Palestinians were furious at Mr Bush's assurances in a letter to Israeli Prime Minister Ariel Sharon last month that Israel could not be expected to give up all its West Bank settlements or to accept the return of Palestinian refugees.
Palestinians saw his stance as making concessions affecting their vital interests without even consulting them.
Mr Powell is expected to meet other Arab leaders later on the sidelines of a World Economic Forum meeting in the Dead Sea.