Washington  - US President Barack Obama called Thursday for Israel to halt all settlement activity in the Palestinian territories.

During a White House meeting with Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas, Obama said that both sides must meet their past obligations to achieve progress on a peace process that has stalled in recent months.

For the Palestinians, that includes improving the security situation in the West Bank. For Israel, "those obligations include stopping settlements," Obama said in a press conference from the White House Oval Office.

The Israeli government rejected a similar call by US Secretary of State Hillary Rodham Clinton earlier Thursday. Government spokesman Mark Regev reiterated that Israel would not build new settlements but supported the "natural growth" of existing Israeli communities on the West Bank.

Abbas said that the Palestinian Authority is "fully committed to all of our obligations" under the 2003 road-map, which set out a path for the two sides to reach a peace deal.

"Time is of the essence," Abbas said. "We should capitalize on every minute, every hour to move the peace process forward."

Relations have been testy between the Obama administration and new Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu, who has refused to endorse a two-state solution in the Middle East. Netanyahu held talks with Obama earlier this month in Washington.

Obama said he was "confident" that the Israeli government would soon recognize the importance of the creation of a Palestinian state.

"I'm confident that if Israel looks ... at its long-term strategic interests, then it will recognize that a two-state solution is in the Israeli interest as well as the Palestinians," Obama said. (dpa)