End settlements, Clinton tells Israel
Updated on 28 May 2009
US Secretary of State Hillary Clinton underscores a commitment to a Middle East peace process, saying it is "in the best interst of the effort that we are engaged in that settlement expansion cease".
Speaking to a press conference with her Egyptian counterpart, Foreign Minister Ahmed Aboul Gheit, Clinton said they were fully committed to a comprehensive peace process in the Middle East, which they both insisted involved a two-state solution.
"With respect to settlements, the president was very clear when Prime Minister Netanyahu was here," she said. "He wants to see a stop to settlements. Not some settlements, not outposts, not natural growth exceptions; we think it is in the best interest of the effort that we are engaged in, that settlement expansion cease."
"Each of the parties - the Israelis and the Palestinians - have in the past committed themselves to certain undertakings that we expect them to be responsible for honouring," she added.
"We will be working together with partners like Egypt to bring about a comprehensive approach that can lead to a two-state solution that will give the Israelis and the Palestinians the chance to have a peaceful and secure future.
"But we're just at the beginning of that process and obviously, there is much work to be done before we have any results we can point to."
