İlayda Çakırtekin
12 June 2025•Update: 13 June 2025
ISTANBUL
French President Emmanuel Macron on Thursday praised Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas for what he called “unprecedented” commitments, after receiving a letter outlining concrete proposals for peace and reform.
"I received a letter of hope, courage and clarity," Macron wrote on X. "This is a decisive moment."
He described Abbas’s commitments as “concrete and unprecedented,” and said they demonstrate a “genuine willingness to move forward.”
Macron said the letter “charts a course toward a horizon of peace.”
The message was sent ahead of a United Nations conference on Palestine and the two-state solution set to be co-hosted by France and Saudi Arabia later this month. Abbas addressed the letter to Macron and Saudi Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman.
"The Palestinian people are faced with an existential threat against their lives, their most fundamental and basic rights, and their very presence in their land at a time when the prospect of peace in our region is being jeopardized," Abbas wrote, thanking both countries for their leadership.
Stressing that more “occupation” or “violence” will not bring a solution, he called for a political outcome based on “justice, international law and mutual acceptance.”
"The utmost priority is to stop the bloodshed in Gaza,” he said, calling for an “immediate, comprehensive and permanent ceasefire,” alongside the opening of all crossings by Israel, unrestricted humanitarian aid deliveries, the release of hostages and prisoners and the full withdrawal of Israeli forces.
Abbas also expressed the Palestinian Authority’s readiness to assume sole governance and security responsibilities in the Gaza Strip.
He reiterated the need for Hamas to “hand over its weapons and military capabilities.”
"The ceasefire and an end of the Israeli assault against the Palestinian people, our land, homes, infrastructure, institutions and holy sites, should be extended to cover all of the Occupied Palestinian Territory and should be accompanied with the immediate cessation of all unilateral measures that violate international law by any side," he added.
He demanded an “immediate” and “complete” halt to settlement activity and settler violence, including confiscation of settlers’ arms and potential sanctions to deter attacks.
“The Palestinian people are entitled to live in freedom and dignity in their homeland. Palestine and Israel are entitled to exist as states, in peace and security, in conformity with international law,” he wrote.
Abbas said this vision can only be achieved through the establishment of a sovereign Palestinian state with East Jerusalem as its capital, living side by side with Israel.
He also said he supports the deployment of an international peacekeeping force to implement a peace agreement.
Finally, he expressed the Palestinian Authority’s commitment to holding presidential and general elections within a year across the Palestinian territory – including East Jerusalem – under international supervision.
