Updated
United States President Donald Trump has vowed "to do whatever necessary" to broker an Israeli-Palestinian peace deal, but offered no clues about how he could break the deadlock and revive long-stalled negotiations.
Key points:
- Peace negotiations are obstructed by an agreement on Israeli-Palestinian borders
- Asked how Trump will be different, White House says "the man is different"
- Meeting comes amid a mass prisoner hunger strike by Palestinians in Israeli jails
At a White House meeting with Palestinian leader Mahmoud Abbas, Mr Trump pledged to reinvigorate the stalled Middle East peace process that has bedevilled his predecessors and said he would serve as "a mediator, an arbitrator or a facilitator" between the two sides.
"We will get this done," Mr Trump confidently told Mr Abbas.
"I'm committed to working with Israel and the Palestinians to reach an agreement.
"But any agreement cannot be imposed by the United States or by any other nation.
"The Palestinians and Israelis must work together to reach an agreement that allows both peoples to live, worship, and thrive and prosper in peace."
The source of Mr Trump's optimism was not immediately apparent.
He offered no details about his effort or how it would be any different from attempts over the past two decades during which former presidents Bill Clinton, George W Bush and Barack Obama all tried and failed.
Palestinian officials said after the meeting that Mr Trump had not raised any specific proposals to restart negotiations.
Asked what distinguishes Mr Trump's plans from previous attempts, White House spokesman Sean Spicer said merely: "The man is different."
The peace process has been stalled since 2014, and there have been no serious attempts to restart negotiations.
Trump optimistic but same disagreements remain
Like previous US leaders, Mr Trump faces numerous obstacles in the long-shot bid.
They include the contours of a potential Palestinian state, Jerusalem's status and the question of Palestinian refugees.
Complicating it all are the vehement Palestinian criticisms of Israeli settlement construction and Israeli complaints that Palestinians are inciting violence.
Mr Abbas insisted he is committed to peace, but he made clear Palestinian demands for a separate state based on borders that existed before the 1967 Middle East war, a capital in east Jerusalem and the return of Palestinian refugees.
"Our strategic option, our strategic choice is to bring about peace based on the vision of two states, a Palestinian state, with its capital of east Jerusalem, that lives in peace and stability with the state of Israel based on the borders of 1967," he said.
Israel rejects the 1967 lines as a possible border, saying it would impose grave security risks.
Israel also opposes Palestinian demands on refugees and stakes its claim on an undivided Jerusalem as the capital of the Jewish state.
Mr Trump did not discuss any of those issues on Wednesday, but in a February news conference with Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu, Mr Trump broke with longtime US policy by raising the idea of a one-state peace agreement, withholding clear support for an independent Palestine.
Thousands rally in support of Palestinian hunger strike
As Mr Abbas and Mr Trump met, several thousand Palestinians attended a solidarity rally for a mass hunger strike by hundreds of Palestinian prisoners held by Israel — now in its 17th day — with speakers calling for a new campaign of civil disobedience against Israeli rule.
In Jerusalem, Israeli Deputy Foreign Minister Tzipi Hotovely criticised Mr Abbas for continuing to fund terrorism.
''It's clear to any intelligent person that Abbas isn't interested in peace," she said.
Mr Trump did directly implore the Palestinian leadership to end what Israel and the United States say is anti-Israel rhetoric.
"There can be no lasting peace unless the Palestinian leaders speak in a unified voice against incitement to violate, and violence, and hate," the President said.
"There's such hatred, but hopefully there won't be such hatred for very long."
AP/Reuters
Topics: donald-trump, unrest-conflict-and-war, world-politics, territorial-disputes, united-states, palestinian-territory-occupied, israel
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