Palestinian Authority chief Mahmoud Abbas was expected to arrive in Paris on Tuesday for a meeting with French President Emmanuel Macron, the Élysée Palace said on Monday.
Macron will receive the P.A. leader to discuss the “full implementation” of the ceasefire agreement in Gaza, the French presidency announced.
The meeting is part of the “ongoing process” after France’s recognition of “Palestine” in September and “the work undertaken to implement a plan for peace and security for all in the Middle East,” the palace said.
The announcement referred to the P.A. leader as “President of the State of Palestine” for the first time since Paris’s recognition of Palestinian statehood two months ago.
The two “will discuss the next steps of the peace plan, particularly in the areas of security, governance, and reconstruction, in coordination with Arab and international partners, in order to prepare for the day after,” the statement continued.
The Élysée said Macron would also emphasize the need for continuous humanitarian aid to the Gaza Strip and administrative reform of the P.A.
Macron said that reforming the P.A. was “an essential condition for the lasting return of stability and the emergence of a viable, democratic and sovereign Palestinian state living in peace and security alongside Israel.”
According to a poll commissioned by the CRIF umbrella organization of French Jewish communities and published on Sept. 18, almost three in four French people opposed Macron’s initiative to recognize “Palestine.”
The survey suggested that only 29% of French people supported immediate recognition at the United Nations as promoted by Macron.
Among those who opposed the move, 38% were in favor of recognizing “Palestine” only after Hamas release the hostages and surrenders; 33% said they were opposed to any recognition plans “in the short time.”
In an interview with Yonit Levi of Israel’s Channel 12 that aired on Sept. 18, Macron claimed the recognition of a Palestinian state was “the best way to isolate Hamas,” calling the terrorists’ praise for him “pure cynicism.”
