Jerusalem (CNSNews.com) - If nothing else, Israel and the Palestinians are fulfilling their commitment to keep details of their negotiations secret, a U.S. diplomat said on Friday.

"Israel and the Palestinians have been good about this. They are not playing out negotiations in the press. They decided to do it quietly," U.S. Embassy spokesman Stewart Tuttle said on Friday. Therefore the progress and the problems are not being "waved around," he said.

Some might question, "What progress?" Earlier this month, Palestinian Authority Chairman Mahmoud Abbas called off talks with Israel for a few days after Israel sent its military into the Gaza Strip in an attempt to stop the increased rocket fire on southern Israeli communities.

Since then, the U.S. has applied heavy pressure -- in the form of visiting dignitaries -- to get the talks moving.

Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice is returning here on Saturday evening for meetings with Israeli leaders. She reportedly will meet with Palestinian Authority leaders in Amman, Jordan, as they return from an Arab League summit in Damascus.

Rice was here just three weeks ago, and this is at least her third trip here since Israeli-Palestinian negotiations were re-launched at a U.S.-sponsored conference in Annapolis, Md., at the end of November.

Vice President Dick Cheney was in Israel earlier this week. President Bush was here in January and is expected to return in May. On Thursday, the White House announced that Bush has invited Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas to the White House in early May for talks aimed at advancing the Israeli-Palestinian peace process.

The White House meeting with Abbas is part of a continuing effort "to work with the Palestinians and the Israelis as well as other countries in the region in realizing a Palestinian state living side by side in peace and security with Israel," White House spokesman Gordon Johndroe said yesterday.

To some observers, there seems to be more talking about the talks than actual negotiating.

Both sides have committed themselves to the goal of reaching an agreement in a year, which President Bush insists is possible, despite doubts on both sides.

Palestinian negotiator Saeb Erekat said on Friday that he hoped that the two sides could soon implement phase one of the road map. For Israel that included a halt to settlement construction in the West Bank and for the Palestinians it includes dismantling terrorist organizations.

Erekat said he couldn't go divulge details about the talks because he was "under oath" not to reveal them. Asked if he was still hopeful that an agreement could be reached, Erekat told Cybercast News Service that he still believed an agreement was "doable."

Israel has irked the U.S. and angered the Palestinians by building in eastern Jerusalem and in large settlement blocs in the West Bank that Israel plans to hold onto in any final deal with the Palestinians. Israel argues that its agreement to the road map did not include a building freeze in these areas.

Israeli Prime Minister Ehud Olmert said earlier this week that Israel was "serious" about peace talks but expected only an "accurate outline and definition of all basic parameters of a two-state solution" to be achieved in the next year. He also said that Israeli construction in settlements would continue.

Palestinians complain that Israel has done very little to ease restrictions that complicate life for the Palestinians. Israeli Defense Minister Ehud Barak announced this week that he was presenting a list of gestures to the Palestinians.

As talks -- or the lack of progress -- preoccupy diplomats, Israelis living near the Gaza Strip are still being bombarded by terrorists.

On Friday, two rockets launched from the Gaza Strip crashed into Israel. One of them landed near a kindergarten, causing some damage but no injuries. But it's another indicator of just how fragile the situation is.