Israel must end its 50-year occupation of Palestine, the White House says

‘Israel must end its 50-year occupation of the Palestinian territories, Barack Obama’s White House has said.

In a speech on Monday, the White House chief of staff Denis McDonough called into question the Israeli government’s commitment to finding a peaceful solution to the Middle East conflict.

“Israel cannot maintain military control of another people indefinitely,” he told a meeting of liberal American pro-Israel lobbyists, J-Street. “An occupation that has lasted for almost 50 years must end.”

Mr McDonough, the most senior official in the US president’s team, was highly critical of earlier comments made Israel’s prime minister Benjamin Netanyahu in which the country’s leader indicated he was not interested in working towards Palestinian sovereignty.’

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