Yin Gang, a senior researcher on Middle East studies with the CASS, claimed that Washington believes it is the right time to promote talks as Palestine cannot get much support from regional countries amid ongoing turbulence in the region.

Syria cannot presently assist Palestine as Bashar al-Assad's regime is mired in civil war, and Iran's influence on the issue is also weakening, Yin said.

The current political situation and geostrategic map are so different from those of three years ago. After the "Arab Spring," many political strongmen in the Arab world stepped down. Divergence within the Arab world is widening, and it is far more difficult to form a joint force backing Palestinians.

U.S. calculations

The Middle East turbulence since 2011 has profoundly affected the United States' influence in the region as well as the security environment of its ally, Israel.

Zhao Jianming, a researcher with the Institute of International Relations at the Shanghai Academy of Social Sciences, noted that regime changes in some of the countries have resulted in the decline of Washington's control over the region. The Middle East turmoil has directly threatened the Egypt-Israel Peace Treaty and the Jordan-Israel Peace Treaty, two of Israel's most important security guarantees.

If conflict between Palestine and Israel broke out again, it would be like adding fuel to the regional flames that even the United States could not put out, Zhao said.

An additional point Washington must acknowledge is that if it doesn't promote the peaceful and comprehensive resolution of the Palestinian-Israeli conflict, the piece of land would remain a hotbed for extremism and anti-Americanism, permanently threatening the national security and world leader status of the United States.

Besides the sense of crisis, observers said, Washington's efforts meet its political needs.

Liu said facilitating peace talks would reconfirm the dominant position of the United States on the Middle East issue. In the last 22 years, Washington has been the dominant leader of Palestinian-Israeli peace talks.

In addition, Liu said, while promoting Palestinian-Israeli peace talks could help improve the image of the United States in the region, it could also isolate its old enemy Iran, reducing the latter's voice on the issue.

However, acting as a peacemaker is not easy. The Palestinian-Israeli conflict has gone on for more than half a century. It involves multiple complex facets including religion, ethnicity, sovereignty as well as territory.

Another problem, He said, is that Palestinians and Israelis are divided internally on how to engage in talks. Doves and hawks coexist in the Israeli parliament and public. Likewise, the hard-line Islamic Hamas movement and the moderate Palestinian National Authority coexist in Palestine.

Before the talks resume, the Palestinian side reiterated several preconditions including Israel's freeing of Palestinians jailed before 1993, freezing settlements on occupied Palestinian lands and negotiating on the basis of the 1967 border.

Though Israel released 82 Palestinian prisoners as a gesture ahead of the talks, Netanyahu refused to freeze Jewish settlements or negotiate on the basis of the 1967 border in a public letter to the Israeli people.

However, Liu said, the resumption of direct peace talks is worth cherishing in spite of the difficulties. The United States, which has an important influence on the peace process, should play a fair role in the talks.

For the sake of future generations and the prosperity of the Middle East, the leaders of Israel and Palestine have no choice but to shake hands, said He.

Relevant UN resolutions and the land-for-peace principle are the basis to fundamentally solve the issue, the researcher added.

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