U.S. Secretary of State Hillary Rodham Clinton delivers her speech at the opening of the World Policy Conference in Marrakech, Morocco. (Abdeljalil Bounhar/Associated Press)

U.S. Secretary of State Hillary Rodham Clinton on Tuesday pushed for a return to peace talks in the Middle East, telling an international forum in Morocco that Arabs and Israelis must put aside historic differences and avoid inflammatory rhetoric to move toward a comprehensive peace.

"I would just ask you to think about how we can each demonstrate the commitment that is necessary for us to go forward," said Clinton in a speech at an international forum attended by senior government officials from the Mideast, North Africa and several major industrialized countries.

"We can maintain an allegiance to the past, but we cannot change the past. No matter what we say about it, it is behind us."

Clinton reiterated the U.S. stance on peace talks between Israel and Palestinians, saying the government of President Barack Obama was committed to the effort to establish two separate Israeli and Palestinian states.

"We are determined and persistent in the pursuit of that goal," she said.

Clinton's speech came after talks with regional diplomats on Monday, including representatives from Morocco, Jordan, Iraq and Egypt, in which she discussed development plans, Iran's nuclear program and the Mideast peace process.

Clinton praises Israeli settlement promise

Clinton also addressed earlier comments she had made on the weekend in Israel in which she had praised Israel's offer to limit — but not halt — West Bank settlement construction as "unprecedented," comments which some Arab countries worried was a softening of the previous U.S. stance that Israel must freeze all settlement construction.

Clinton said Monday after meeting with Moroccan Foreign Minister Taieb Fassi-Fihri that none of the leaders she had met with in Morocco had expressed concern that the U.S. had changed its position.

"I think a number of my counterparts were not aware that what the Israeli government is offering would be an end to all new settlement activity in the West Bank, it would be an end to expropriation, it would mean an end to any permits or approvals," she said.

"It is not enough. It is not what many people in the region and elsewhere would want to see, but it is fair to characterize it as unprecedented. And we discussed it, and I made clear that when we praise what the Palestinians do on security, it is meant to send a signal that progress is underway and it is progress toward a two-state solution."

While Clinton appeared positive about the response from Arab nation leaders, she also put off a scheduled return flight to the United States on Tuesday to fly instead to Cairo for a hastily arranged meeting with Egyptian officials, including President Hosni Mubarak, to continue consultations on Mideast peace talks. The decision appeared to be linked to Egyptian concerns over the U.S. approach to the peace process.

Israeli intelligence chief warns of Gaza missile tests

Israeli-Palestinian negotiations broke off more than a year ago, with Palestinian leader Mahmoud Abbas consistently refusing to reopen negotiations until Israel has stopped building settlements in the West Bank and East Jerusalem.

Some 500,000 Israelis live in the West Bank and East Jerusalem alongside 2.8 million Palestinians. Israel captured the areas in the 1967 war with Egypt, Jordan and Syria. Israel also captured the Gaza Strip in 1967, but in 2005 it withdrew from the region. Gaza has since come under the control of Hamas militants.

Also on Tuesday, Israel's military intelligence chief said militants in the region have successfully test-fired an Iranian rocket able to reach Tel Aviv.

Maj. Gen. Amos Yadlin told the Israeli parliament's foreign affairs and defence committee that the rocket was launched in recent days and could fly 60 kilometres, about 20 km further than previous rockets launched from Gaza.

Israeli ballistics experts said paint, tool work and Latin lettering on rocket fragments point to Iranian origins. But the military has not publicly released clear evidence proving Iranian involvement.

No details of where the rocket landed were released. Hamas had no comment in response to Yadlin's testimony.

With files from The Associated Press