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Trump to host Palestinian President Abbas in May: White House

Xinhua, April 19, 2017 Adjust font size:

The White House said on Wednesday that U.S. President Donald Trump will host Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas in Washington on May 3.

The two leaders will "reaffirm the commitment of both the United States and Palestinian leadership to pursuing and ultimately concluding a conflict-ending settlement between the Palestinians and Israel," White House spokesman Sean Spicer said at a daily briefing.

According to a White House statement in March, Trump told Abbas in his first phone call with the Palestinian leader that he personally believed that peace between Palestine and Israel is possible.

In a major departure from the longtime U.S. policy on the Israeli-Palestinian conflict, Trump said in February that he was open to either a one-state or two-state solution to the Israeli-Palestinian conflict.

"I'm looking at two-state, one-state, and I like the one that both parties like. ... I can live with either one," Trump said then at a joint press conference with visiting Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu.

However, Trump also asked Netanyahu to "hold back" on building new settlement "for a little bit."

The former U.S. administration under Barack Obama often criticized Israel's continuous expansion of the settlements, which Washington considered as a major obstacle to peace. Enditem