Biden says two-state solution ‘so far away’

BETHLEHEM CITY, Palestine (AA) – US President Joe Biden on Friday voiced pessimism about the two-state solution to the conflict between Palestinians and Israel.

“I know the goal of the two states seems so far away while indignities like restrictions on movement and travel or the daily worry of your children’s safety are real and immediate. The Palestinians are hurting now. You can just feel it…There must be a political horizon,” Biden said at the joint press conference with Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas in the West Bank city of Bethlehem.

Biden, however, reiterated his support for the two-state solution “along the pre-1967 lines with mutually agreed swaps.”

“The Palestinian people deserve a state of their own that’s independent, sovereign, viable and contiguous,” he added.

During the press conference, the US president pledged $200 million to the UN agency for Palestinian refugees (UNRWA) and an additional $100 million to the hospitals serving Palestinians in the occupied East Jerusalem.

Regarding the killing of Palestinian-American journalist Shireen Abu Akleh, Biden said the US will “continue to insist on a full and transparent accounting of her death.”

Abu Akleh, 51, a journalist working for the Doha-based Al Jazeera network, was shot dead May 11 while covering an Israeli military raid near the Jenin refugee camp in the occupied West Bank.

While Palestinian officials and Al Jazeera accused Israel of killing the reporter, Tel Aviv denied any responsibility.

Biden arrived in Israel on Wednesday on his first official trip to the Middle East region, where he pledged US protection to Tel Aviv.