A new political impulse is required to arrive at a 'two peoples, two nations' solution for Israel and the Palestinian territories, the Quartet on the Middle East's envoy Tony Blair said Friday in the northern city of Trieste.

Speaking after a Quartet meeting on the sidelines of a Group of Eight foreign ministers' conference, Blair said ''a strong political effort'' was necessary, stressing that a new Palestinian state must be ''one, not two'', in that it must include both the West Bank and Gaza.

The effort must be ''supported by actions on the ground'' with an immediate strategy for the reconstruction of Gaza, he added.

The United States' envoy to the Middle East, George Mitchell, said after the meeting: ''The US and Israel are close allies and even if there are some differences in opinion on the Middle East discussions among friends are under way and I'm sure that we will make progress that will bring us to full and productive negotiations in the near future''.

The Quartet - which comprises the United States, Russia, the European Union and the United Nations - is responsible for a road map for peace between Israel and the Palestinian territories that was first outlined in 2002.