FORMER US president Jimmy Carter warned on Saturday that, eight months after a bloody war, the situation in Gaza remained “intolerable.”

Mr Carter had been supposed to visit the embattled territory but called it off earlier this week, citing security concerns.

But he said that he was still determined to work for a Palestinian state in the West Bank and Gaza.

“What we have seen and heard only strengthens our determination to work for peace,” he said.

Earlier in the day, Mr Carter visited Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas in Ramallah.

His delegation had been shunned by Israeli leaders but the veteran peacemaker said he had no interest in meeting Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu, who has ignored him in the past.

“This time we decided it was a waste of time to ask,” Mr Carter said.

“As long as he is in charge there will be no two-state solution and therefore no Palestinian state.”