Gaza (TDI): Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas has called for the disarmament of Hamas and expressed support for deploying Arab and international forces in Gaza under a UN mandate, France said Tuesday, a move the French presidency called “concrete and unprecedented.”
In a letter addressed to French President Emmanuel Macron and Saudi Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman, Abbas said Hamas must “hand over its weapons and military capabilities to the Palestinian Security Forces” and no longer rule Gaza.
The letter comes ahead of a high-level conference on the two-state solution, to be co-chaired by France and Saudi Arabia later this month at the United Nations.
“We are ready to conclude, within a clear and binding timeline. A peace agreement that ends the Israeli occupation and resolves all outstanding and final status issues,” Abbas wrote.
Abbas said he was prepared to invite Arab and international forces as part of a stabilization and protection mission in Gaza, with international backing and supervision.
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He also reiterated a commitment to reform the Palestinian Authority and hold presidential and general elections within a year under international observation.
“The Palestinian State should be the sole provider of security on its territory,” Abbas wrote, stressing it “has no intention to be a militarized State.”
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The French presidency welcomed Abbas’s remarks, calling them “real signs of willingness” to implement a two-state solution.
Macron, who has said he is ready to recognize a Palestinian state, has made Hamas demilitarization a key condition.
“These are concrete and unprecedented commitments, demonstrating a real willingness to move toward the implementation of the two-state solution,” said the Élysée Palace in a statement.
