Pope calls Israeli-Palestinian conflict 'increasingly unacceptable'

Pope Francis has called the ongoing Israeli-Palestinian conflict “increasingly unacceptable,” urging both sides to take courageous and creative decisions to forge peace.

Francis spoke Sunday alongside Palestinian Authority President Mahmoud Abbas after landing in the West Bank town of Bethlehem in a symbolic nod to Palestinian aspirations for their own state. Previous popes making Mideast pilgrimages always landed in Israel first and then travelled to the West Bank.

Francis said: “The time has come to put an end to this situation which has become increasingly unacceptable.” He said both sides needed to make sacrifices to create two states, with internationally recognized borders, for the good of their own people. (AP)