President Donald Trump has warned Israel that its West Bank settlements risk complicating efforts to find peace in the Middle East.

In an interview published on Sunday, Mr Trump also told an Israeli newspaper that he was sceptical that either side - Palestinians or Israelis - were ready to make peace.

The American president angered Palestinians in December when he recognised Jerusalem as the capital of Israel and then threatened to withhold aid unless their leaders entered talks.

But after going out of his way to talk up close ties with Israel during his first year in office, Mr Trump offered a more even handed approach in the interview with the conservative newspaper Yisrael Hayom by offering a cool assessment of Israeli settlement building.

“The settlements are something that very much complicates and always have complicated making peace, so I think Israel has to be very careful with the settlements," he said.