Abbas tells Macron he supports demilitarisation of Hamas

PARIS - Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas has said that Hamas “must hand over its weapons” and called for the deployment of international forces to protect “the Palestinian people”, France announced on June 10.

In a letter addressed on June 9 to French President Emmanuel Macron and Saudi Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman, who in June will

co-chair a conference on a two-state solution

for Israel and the Palestinians, Mr Abbas outlined the main steps that he thinks must be taken to end the war in Gaza and achieve peace in the Middle East.

“Hamas will no longer rule Gaza and must hand over its weapons and military capabilities to the Palestinian Security Forces,” wrote Mr Abbas.

He said he was “ready to invite Arab and international forces to be deployed as part of a stabilisation/protection mission with a United Nations Security Council mandate”.

The conference at UN headquarters later in June will aim to resurrect the idea of a two-state solution – Israel currently controls large parts of the Palestinian territories.

“We are ready to conclude within a clear and binding timeline, and with international support, supervision and guarantees, a peace agreement that ends the Israeli occupation and resolves all outstanding and final status issues,” Mr Abbas wrote.

“Hamas has to immediately release all hostages and captives,” he added.

In a statement, the Elysee Palace welcomed “concrete and unprecedented commitments, demonstrating a real willingness to move towards the implementation of the two-state solution”.

Mr Macron has said he is “determined” to recognise a Palestinian state, but also set out several conditions, including the “demilitarisation” of Hamas.

In his letter, Mr Abbas reaffirmed his commitment to reform the Palestinian Authority and confirmed his intention to hold presidential and general elections “within a year” under international auspices.

“The Palestinian state should be the sole provider of security on its territory, but has no intention to be a militarised state.”

France has

long championed a two-state solution

, including after the Oct 7, 2023, attack by Palestinian militants Hamas on Israel.

But formal recognition by Paris of a Palestinian state would mark a major policy shift and risk antagonising Israel, which insists that such moves by foreign states are premature. AFP