The White House has indicated that a peace deal between Israel and the Palestinians may not involve a two-state solution.

It signals a change in Washington policy towards the Middle East for the first time in nearly 50 years.

The United Nations Secretary-General warned against abandoning the idea of a two-state solution as Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu prepared for talks with Donald Trump later, the first since he took office.

Antonio Guterres said there was "no alternative" if the Israeli-Palestinian conflict is to end.

France, too, said its commitment to the two-state solution was "stronger than ever".


A senior White House official said the United States will no longer try to dictate the terms of any peace settlement.

Image: President Trump wants to improve relations with Israel which cooled under Barack Obama

"A two-state solution that doesn't bring peace is not a goal that anybody wants to achieve," the official said on condition of anonymity.

"Peace is the goal, whether that comes in the form of a two-state solution if that's what the parties want, or something else if that's what the parties want.

"That's going to be up to them."

During his presidential campaign, Mr Trump regularly voiced pro-Israeli sentiments, including a promise to move the US embassy from Tel Aviv to Jerusalem.

But it is unclear how he will pursue peace for the region.

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Successive US governments, Republican and Democrat, have backed the two-state solution and it was the basis of the Camp David accord in 1978 and peace talks in Oslo in the 1990s.

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Relations between the US and Israel soured during the previous administration when Barack Obama warned that continued settlement construction could make a two-state solution impossible.

He also said a one-state solution would put the future of the Jewish state in question.

Mr Trump has not openly criticised Mr Netanyahu's settlement policies as a handicap to peace, but he said they did not help.

"The construction of new settlements or the expansion of existing settlements beyond their current borders may not be helpful in achieving that goal," the White House said in a statement earlier this month.

Mr Trump has previously indicated he would relish the challenge of negotiating a peace deal in the Middle East.

At one point he suggested his son-in-law, Jared Kushner, would be the best man for the job.