Pope Benedict XVI has offered his support for the Palestinians' right to a homeland as he continues his Middle East tour in the West Bank.
Speaking in a Bethlehem refugee camp, he said he understood frustrations that their "legitimate aspirations" for a Palestinian state were unfulfilled.
Standing beside him, Palestinian leader Mahmoud Abbas called on Israel to embrace peace. Earlier, the pontiff said he prayed for a lifting of Israel's embargo on Gaza.
The BBC's Tim Franks said that the Pope used the stark backdrop of a Palestinian refugee camp to deliver one of his strongest expressions of support for the Palestinians.
Standing in the shadow of Israel's separation wall in the Aida refugee camp, which houses refugees from Israel's creation in 1948, the Pope called the barrier a symbol of "stalemate" between Israel and the Palestinians.
"In a world where more and more borders are being opened up - to trade, to travel, to movement of peoples, to cultural exchanges - it is tragic to see walls still being erected," he said.
"In front of Your Holiness I address a message of peace to our Israeli neighbours. And I call upon them to renounce occupation, settlements, arrests, and humiliations."
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