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3mo ago

France Moves Toward Recognizing Palestinian State After Abbas Pledges Hamas Demilitarization

A letter from Mahmoud Abbas outlining disarmament of Hamas through UN-backed forces with a timetable for PA elections sets the stage for Paris to endorse Palestinian statehood

MADRID, SPAIN - 2024/09/19: Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas seen during a press conference at the Moncloa Palace. Abbas used the press event to call for a new peace conference in the Spanish capital aimed at ending the Israeli-Palestinian conflict. The conference would be modelled on the 1991 Madrid talks that led to the 1993 Oslo accords. The Spanish Prime Minister Pedro Sanchez called for a de-escalation of the conflict in the Middle East. (Photo by Guillermo Gutierrez Carrascal/SOPA Images/LightRocket via Getty Images)
France's President Emmanuel Macron gestures as he speaks during the presentation of the European Ocean Pact during the third United Nations Ocean Conference (UNOC3), which gathers leaders, researchers and activists to discuss how to protect marine life, in Nice, France, June 9, 2025. Laurent Cipriani/Pool via REUTERS/ File Photo
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Overview

  • President Emmanuel Macron is preparing to formally back Palestinian statehood ahead of a June 17–20 UN conference co-hosted with Saudi Arabia
  • In a June 9 letter, Abbas pledged that Hamas would hand over its weapons to Palestinian Security Forces and invited international stabilization forces under a UN mandate
  • Abbas committed to organizing presidential and general elections within a year under international supervision to strengthen the Palestinian Authority’s legitimacy
  • French officials say Abbas’s unprecedented reform pledges satisfy conditions Macron has set for recognizing a Palestinian state, marking a shift in Paris’s Middle East policy
  • Israel has rejected any future role for the Palestinian Authority in Gaza and condemned moves toward state recognition as premature