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Israel refuses to reverse its decision to build new homes in largely Arab East Jerusalem, but it is offering measures to kick-start the peace process, Middle East envoy Tony Blair told CNN on Friday.

Blair's comments came after a meeting in Moscow of the Middle East Quartet, which called for Israel and the Palestinians to have direct negotiations and reach a final settlement within two years.

Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu pledged a package of moves to boost confidence and get the peace process back on track, Blair said. Those measures include steps to improve the humanitarian situation in Gaza, Blair said, but he did not specify whether the steps included prisoner releases.

Blair, the former British prime minister, is the representative of the Quartet, the four international entities seeking peace in the region. The four members of the Quartet are the United States, Russia, the European Union, and the United Nations.

Blair said he is certain that Israel genuinely wants a workable peace deal with the Palestinians, but that it is also important for Palestinians to know they would have a viable independent state.

Israel's recent announcement that it plans to build some 1,600 housing units in a disputed part of East Jerusalem has sparked protests and strained the U.S. relationship with Israel, though U.S. Secretary of State Hillary Clinton said Friday the relationship is "deep and broad" as well as "strong and enduring."

U.N. Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon said Friday the Quartet condemns Israel's construction plans.

Chief Palestinian negotiator Saeb Erakat said he welcomed the Quartet's statement and hoped it could be translated into action.

"I think it's really more than words," he told CNN, "because this is coming at a time when the international community is at its feet now as regards Israeli settlement activity and Netanyahu is still being defiant. Netanyahu is defying the whole international community now and he 's insisting to continue settlement activity, and he's telling the world, 'Look, I'm going to fool you -- I'm not going to announce any tenders anymore, but I am going to continue with settlements.'"

Israel and the Palestinians were supposed to hold indirect "proximity talks" with former U.S. Sen. George Mitchell, the Obama administration's special envoy to the Middle East. But two days after those talks were announced, Israel revealed its plan to build the 1,600 units in East Jerusalem, and that put the entire process on hold.

Erakat told CNN it would be "very difficult" to hold any negotiations -- including proximity talks -- unless Israel rescinds its plan to build in East Jerusalem.

Lieberman said Israel, for its part, is ready to negotiate.

"The Palestinian side makes the wrong impression by dragging its feet by refusing to negotiate," he said. "Direct negotiations, and not raising complaints, will bring them to the goal."

Micky Rosenfeld, a spokesman for the Israeli police, said 2,500 police had been deployed around Jerusalem to maintain calm. He also said male Muslim worshippers younger than 50 were not being allowed to attend Friday prayers at Al-Aqsa mosque, one of the city's holiest sites.

Ban said his visit will be to assess the humanitarian situation in Gaza, something Quartet members said they are deeply concerned about. They called for a solution that addresses Israel's security concerns while also allowing humanitarian aid, commercial goods, and people to enter the seaside territory.

The Israeli military conducted airstrikes on six sites in Gaza late Thursday in what it said was retaliation for attacks by Palestinian militants. Israel said a Thai worker was killed when a rocket fired from Gaza landed inside southern Israel.

The military said it targeted tunnels used for smuggling and terrorist activity, and a weapons manufacturing site.

The Quartet condemned the rocket attacks from Gaza and called for an immediate end to violence.

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