Trump invites Palestinian president Mahmoud Abbas to the White House

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REUTERS - Abbas will be expected to press the U.S. president about Israeli settlements and the White House's commitment to a two-state solution to the Israeli-Palestinian conflict
Trump invites Palestinian president Mahmoud Abbas to the White House as he tries to jump-start Middle East peace process
* Mahmoud Abbas will be expected to press the U.S. president on
    Israeli settlements when he comes to Washington
  * Trump has already spoken twice on the phone and met personally with
    Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu
  * Trump has expressed ambivalence about the two-state solution to
    Middle East peace that previous administrations have embraced
  * Palestinians are concerned by the favorable approach shown by Trump
    towards Netanyahu
By REUTERS and DAVID MARTOSKO, US POLITICAL EDITOR FOR DAILYMAIL.COM 
PUBLISHED: 12:15 GMT, 10 March 2017  | UPDATED: 19:51 GMT, 10 March 2017
http://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/article-4301096/Trump-Palestinian-President-Abbas-hold-talks.html

  "U.S. President Donald Trump on Friday invited Palestinian President
   Mahmoud Abbas to the White House, an Abbas spokesman said, after the
   two leaders spoke by phone for the first time since Trump took office.
   
   'President Trump has extended an official invitation to President Abbas
   to visit the White House soon to discuss ways to resume the political
   process, stressing his commitment to a peace process that will lead to
   a real peace between the Palestinians and the Israelis,' said Abbas
   spokesman Nabil Abu Rdainah.
   
   Palestinians are concerned at the more favorable approach shown by
   Washington towards Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu since
   Trump came to power.
   
   Netanyahu and Trump have spoken on the phone at least twice since the
   Jan. 20 inauguration and Netanyahu visited Washington last month.
   
   
   AP   President Donald Trump, shown Friday at the White House, has invited Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas to visit the presidential mansion;
   the two men spoke on the phone Friday
   
   
   REUTERS   Abbas will be expected to press the U.S. president about Israeli settlements and the White House's commitment to a two-state solution to
   the Israeli-Palestinian conflict
   
   Palestinian officials indicated Abbas would emphasise his concern about
   Israeli settlement-building on occupied land and the need for a
   two-state solution to the conflict.
   
   'President Abbas stressed the commitment to peace as a strategic choice
   to establish a Palestinian State alongside the state of Israel,' Abu
   Rdainah said, according to the official Palestinian WAFA news agency.
   
   At a Feb. 15 news conference during Netanyahu's visit, Trump was
   ambivalent about a two-state solution, the mainstay of U.S. policy in
   the region for the past two decades.
   
   'I'm looking at two-state and one-state, and I like the one that both
   parties like ... I can live with either one,' Trump said, causing
   consternation across the Arab world and in many European capitals.
   
   The White House has since been more cautious on the issue, and there
   has been less talk of moving the U.S. embassy from Tel Aviv to
   Jerusalem, a promise Trump made during the campaign but a move that
   would provoke anger across the Muslim world.
   
   David Friedman, Trump's nominee for ambassador to Israel, who was
   approved by the Senate foreign relations committee on Thursday, has
   said he wants to see the embassy move to Jerusalem and expects to work
   from the city at least some of the time.
   
   [Video : Netanyahu says he is willing to meet with Palestinian
            President ]
   
   While one of the first calls to a foreign leader made by Trump's
   predecessor Barack Obama was to Abbas, Trump has been cautious in his
   contacts with the Arab world.
   
   He has spoken to Egyptian President Abdel Fattah al-Sisi and met
   Jordan's King Abdullah, who took the initiative and flew to Washington
   for an impromptu visit.
   
   One of the most heated issues between Israel and the Palestinians is
   Israel's building of settlements in the occupied West Bank and East
   Jerusalem, territory the Palestinians want for their own state along
   with Gaza.
   
   During the campaign, Trump said he did not necessarily see settlements
   as an obstacle to peace. Since his inauguration, Israel has announced
   plans to build at least 6,000 more settler homes, a substantial
   increase and an indication that Israel took Trump's softer language as
   a green light.
   
   But during Netanyahu's visit, Trump said he wanted the Israeli prime
   minister to 'hold back on settlements for a little bit', a position
   that took Netanyahu by surprise. Israeli and U.S. officials are now
   discussing what the parameters are on settlements. "