France said on Friday it was too early to say that Israel had rejected a new Middle East peace plan initiated by Spain and Italy as well as by the French.
"We think it is without doubt premature to speak of rejection," said Jean-Baptiste Mattei, a spokesman from the French foreign ministry, adding that Israel had given no official reaction to the plan.
A senior Israeli official appeared earlier on Friday to reject the initiative outright.
"The common Spanish-French-Italian initiative does not exist. The announcement by (Spanish Prime Minister) Jose Luis Rodriguez Zapatero is hasty," said the foreign ministry official who refused to be named.
But Mattei said this did not constitute an official rejection as the only response from Israel so far had come from anonymous sources and in the press.
"First of all, the Israelis must have a clearer understanding of what the initiative is all about," he said.
France wanted to "continue to work on the plan, to present the ideas in greater detail, while speaking to all parties concerned, and then we will see
the Israeli reaction," he added.
Zapatero had announced the plan on Thursday at a press conference during talks with French President Jacques Chirac.
The peace plan, including an international conference, was welcomed by the Palestinian Authority.
The initiative also seeks a cease-fire, an exchange of Israeli and Palestinian prisoners, a Palestinian "government of national unity" and the dispatch of a fact-finding mission to the Palestinian territories.
Diplomatic sources said on Thursday the proposal from the three countries would be presented at the next European Union summit in December.