US Middle East envoy George Mitchell today said that he would strive intensively in the next few days to rescue Israeli-Palestinian peace talks from the brink of collapse. Speaking to reporters after about two hours of talks with Palestinian president Mahmud Abbas in Ramallah, Mitchell said US is determined to continue its efforts to find common ground between the parties to enable the direct negotiations to continue. Earlier George Mitchell met with Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu in Jerusalem last evening. Mitchell told at the start of the meeting that both sides have a historic mission to continue what he described as good talks. Demanding extension of Israeli freeze on Jewish settlement activities in occupied Palestinian areas, the Palestinian president Mahmoud Abbas had said that he will consult with the 22-member Arab League next Monday on how to proceed on peace talks.AIR Correspondent reports, the main aim of US envoy George Mitchell at this stage is to convince Israel to reinstate a freeze on settlement construction, which is a condition that the Palestinians have placed if they are to remain in negotiations. Mitchell is making a final effort to broker a compromise between Israel and the Palestinians before Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas decides whether to continue with talks.A 10-month freeze on settlement construction expired on 26 of this month and Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu has so far avoided renewing the order. The settlement issue is one of the most difficult disputes between the two sides. There are some 5 lakh Israelis living in more than 120 settlements across the occupied West Bank and east Jerusalem. A previous round of direct talks collapsed in December 2008 when Israel launched a 22-day offensive on the Hamas-run Gaza Strip aimed at halting rocket and mortar attacks. Apart from settlement issue, the other core issues, which need to be resolved, are Israel's security, the borders of a future Palestinian state, the fate of Palestinian refugees, and the future of Jerusalem.