WEST BANK: US President Barack Obama said on Thursday that Palestinians deserve an independent and sovereign state and an end to occupation by Israel, adding that US is committed to creating two independent states, Israel and Palestine, however long it takes.
Speaking at a news conference in the West Bank with Palestinian Authority President Mahmoud Abbas, Obama stressed direct talks between Palestinians and Israelis is the only way to reach the goal.
Obama said Palestinians should not have to confront the daily indignities that come with occupation.
US President said the US needs a “viable and contiguous” Palestinian state co-existing alongside the state of Israel.
The US president condemned construction of new Israeli settlements on Palestinian territories.
“I told Mr. Netanyahu that it has been US policy not to consider settlement activity to be constructive, appropriate or advance the cause of peace,” criticized Obama.
Still, Obama acknowledged that Israeli politics is a complicated matter and that the issue of settlements cannot be “resolved overnight”.
“I want both sides [Israel and Palestine] to be doing what they can to build a sense of trust, and I hope that the US government will be helpful in that,” Obama said.
Palestinian Authority President Mahmoud Abbas added that “We never gave up our vision that settlement activity is illegal, that the Israeli government understands this. We hope they listen. We spoke about this with the president and we clarified this.”
Abbas recalled that Israeli settlements are considered illegal also by the United Nations, which so far has issued “13 resolutions, not only condemning settlements, but demanding ending and removing them because they’re illegal.”
“We’re demanding nothing other than the implementation of international law,” Abbas said, pointing out that the question of settlements is one of the biggest obstacles towards realization of a two-state solution.
Abbas said that the Palestinians recognize the state of Israel.”We continue to recognize Israel according to the Road Map and the Arab Initiative,” he said.
