Obama Backs Independent Palestinian State

President Barack Obama has declared that the US is "deeply committed" to creating a sovereign state of Palestine.

"Just as Israelis built a state in their homeland, Palestinians have a right to be a free people in their own land," he said after talks with Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas, according to the BBC.

However, Obama noted that he would not press the Israelis into freezing settlement building in the West Bank as a pre-condition to fresh talks between the two sides.

The building of Israeli settlements on Palestinian land has been the major stumbling block in the peace process, with Palestinians long insisting it must stop completely before stalled talks can restart.

Obama's three-day visit to Israel and the West Bank is his first as president.