BETHLEHEM (Ma'an) -- A new report from the International Crisis Group questions the credibility of the Mideast peace process nearly two decades since Oslo and 13 years since a deal should have been reached.

The report, released this week, concludes that prospects for a two-state solution "are as dim as ever."

"The international community mechanically goes through the motions, with as little energy as conviction. The parties most directly concerned, the Israeli and Palestinian people, appear long ago to have lost hope," it says.

The report blames the lack of interest on various factors, among them the distracting US presidential campaign, the Arab spring, Israel's focus on Iran and Europe's economic troubles.

The report says the lull could be positive if its causes are taken into account. "The expected diplomatic lull is a chance to reconsider basic pillars of the process," it says, suggesting that the players keep a two-state solution as their goal but reconsider how Palestinians, who "suffer most form the status quo," can be empowered.

ICG concludes all parties ought to commit to a departure from the status quo focusing on what it calls new issues, new constituencies, a new Palestinian strategy, and new "international architecture."