WASHINGTON: In his final news conference, President Barack Obama advised his successor, Donald Trump, not to abandon the pursuit for a two-state solution in the Israeli-Palestinian dispute.

He said that during his two, four-year terms he realised that both parties were unwilling to arrive at a final status agreement but "we at least wanted to … preserve the possibility of a two-nation solution. Because we do not see an alternative to it.”

Mr Obama also said that while he was leaving office, he was not leaving Washington. The US media described this announcement as “another twist in one of the most unpredictable transitions” in the US history.

Last month, the Obama administration refused to veto a UN Security Council resolution that criticised the continued settlement of Jewish immigrants in the West Bank. And later, Mr Obama reminded Israel that the resolution was a “signal, a wake-up call, that this moment may be passing” for a two-state solution to be a realistic scenario.

Published in Dawn, January 20th, 2017