Jerusalem, July 29 (IANS): Israeli chief negotiator Tzipi Livni Monday expressed "great hope" for the long-stalled peace talks with Palestine, before heading to the US to meet her Palestinian counterpart Saeb Erekat.

The two negotiators are scheduled to meet Tuesday at the house of US Secretary of State John Kerry, in a meeting aimed to create a friendly atmosphere ahead of the talks, Xinhua reported.

"I'm leaving on this mission with heavy responsibility but also with great hope," Livni said prior to her flight to Washington.

"There's a chance now for both sides to pave the way for reaching a resolution of this conflict which had taken a valuable price out of both people," she added.

On Tuesday, the first official meeting will take place between the negotiators and it will be followed by a joint statement.

Peace talks between Israel and the Palestinians came to a halt in 2010 over Israel's construction of settlements in the West Bank.

The Israeli cabinet earlier voted in favour of releasing 104 Palestinian prisoners, thus paving the way for renewal of the talks.