US President Barack Obama could skip Ramallah during his upcoming visit to the region, a Palestinian Authority source said Wednesday.

Obama will meet President Mahmoud Abbas in Bethlehem and will spend only four hours in the West Bank during the trip, which will include a visit to the Nativity Church, said the government official, who spoke on condition of anonymity.

A spokesman for the US consulate in Jerusalem did not immediately return a call late Wednesday.

Washington has not yet released a schedule for the trip, but Obama is expected to arrive in Israel on March 20 and depart two days later after visiting the West Bank.