- NEW: Pope Francis arrives in Tel Aviv, speaks to Israeli leaders
- Pope invites Palestinian and Israeli leaders to the Vatican to pray for peace
- Palestinian Authority President Mahmoud Abbas will go to Vatican, official says
- Israeli President Shimon Peres welcomes the invitation, his office says
Bethlehem, West Bank (CNN) -- Pope Francis extended an invitation Sunday to the leaders of Israel and the Palestinian Authority to travel to the Vatican for a "peace initiative," after earlier calling for a two-state solution to the intractable conflict.
The pontiff's remarks came at the end of an outdoor Mass in Bethlehem's Manger Square on the second day of his three-day trip to the Middle East.
"In this, the birthplace of the Prince of Peace, I wish to invite you, President Mahmoud Abbas, together with Israeli President Shimon Peres, to join me in heartfelt prayer to God for the gift of peace," Francis said.
"I offer my home in the Vatican as a place for this encounter of prayer."
He added, "Building peace is difficult, but living without peace is a constant torment. The men and women of these lands, and of the entire world, all of them, ask us to bring before God their fervent hopes for peace."
Pope Francis arrives in Jordan's capital 
Pope Francis and Ecumenical Patriarch of Constantinople Bartholomew I pray over the Stone of Unction at the Church of the Holy Sepulchre in Jerusalem's Old City on Sunday, May 25. Pope Francis joined Orthodox Patriarch Bartholomew I in an historic joint prayer for Christian unity at Christianity's holiest site in Jerusalem. The Pope is visiting Jordan, Bethlehem and Jerusalem in an effort to promote unity. 
Pope Francis blesses a child from his Popemobile as he leaves Manger Square after presiding over an open-air Mass in the West Bank town of Bethlehem on May 25. Francis extended an invitation Sunday to the leaders of Israel and the Palestinian Authority to travel to the Vatican for a "peace initiative," as he called for a two-state solution to the intractable conflict. 
Francis, center, leads an open-air Mass in Bethlehem on May 25. 
Francis touches the wall that divides Israel from the West Bank, on his way to celebrate a Mass in Bethlehem on May 25. 
Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas, right, greets Pope Francis in Ramallah, West Bank, on May 25. 
Francis prays Saturday, May 24, at Bethany Beyond the Jordan, on a tributary of the Jordan River that tradition holds is the site where Christ was baptized. 
Pope Francis celebrates Mass in Amman's International Stadium on May 24. 
Pope Francis kisses a baby after giving a blessing upon his arrival to lead Mass at the Amman stadium. 
Pope Francis rides in a golf cart with King Abdullah II of Jordan on May 24 as they visit Bethany, on the eastern bank of the Jordan River. 
Jordanians and Christians of various nationalities and denominations congregate at Amman's International Stadium on May 24 awaiting the Pope's arrival. 
Pope Francis meets King Abdullah II in Amman's Al Husseini Royal Palace on May 24. 
Pope Francis walks with Jordanian Prince Ghazi, chief adviser to the King of Jordan for Religious and Cultural Affairs, on May 24 as he arrives at the Amman airport. 
Pope Francis arrives at the airport in Amman on May 24. 
Pope Francis blesses a man as he greets journalists aboard the papal flight on his way to Jordan on May 24. 
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