JERUSALEM  The Palestinian president, Mahmoud Abbas, said Sunday that any American proposal for restarting Israeli-Palestinian negotiations must include East Jerusalem as part of a complete halt in Israeli settlement building.

It was not immediately clear whether Mr. Abbas’s position, which is consistent with Palestinian policy, would scuttle a proposed deal that the Americans hope will lead to resumption of the negotiations. In the past the sides have found ways to surmount such difficulties.

Speaking to reporters in Cairo after meeting President Hosni Mubarak of Egypt, Mr. Abbas said that he had received no official American proposal regarding the peace process, but that for negotiations to take place, “there has to be a complete halt in settlements in all the Palestinian lands, first and foremost in Jerusalem.” His remarks were carried by the official Palestinian news agency, Wafa.

Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu has been considering an additional 90-day moratorium on the construction of settlement homes in the West Bank in return for security and diplomatic benefits from the United States. Israeli officials said Sunday that Mr. Netanyahu was still waiting for a letter from the Americans spelling out the terms of the understandings. One issue needing clarification was the amount of a United States subsidy to Israel to acquire 20 advanced American fighter aircraft.