Obama reiterates U.S. commitment to establishing Palestinian state

U.S. President Barack Obama on Thursday reiterated Washington's commitment to establishing an independent, viable and sovereign Palestinian state alongside Israel.

The remarks were made at a joint news conference with Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas following their meeting in the West Bank city of Ramallah during Obama's second day of a Middle East tour that also includes Israel and Jordan.

Obama also stressed that direct negotiations between the two sides should be the way to achieve the goal of a Palestinian state.

"If we can get direct negotiations started again, I believe that the shape of a potential deal is there," Obama said.

The Palestinians-Israeli negotiations came to a halt in 2010 over a dispute on Jewish settlement's construction in the West Bank.

Obama said he had told Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu that the building of settlement was "not constructive, not appropriate."

Xinhua