Israel's President Shimon Peres said Monday that Palestinian leader Mahmoud Abbas is "serious about reaching peace," according to Agence France Presse.
"I was happy to hear him," Peres' office quoted the Israeli leader saying prior to the commencement of his meeting with Peruvian President Ollanta Humala.
Peres' comments come in response to Abbas' statement Sunday that he "did not intend to flood Israel" with returning Palestinian refugees and that there is "no need to re-divide Jerusalem in order to have a Palestinian capital in the eastern part of the city."
The issue of refugees and Jerusalem have been major sticking points of contention of current peace negotiations between Israelis and Palestinians that began last July.
Abbas' original commentary Sunday came during his rare meeting with 250 Israeli students at the Palestinian leader's West Bank headquarters.
