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PARIS: French President Emmanuel Macron will meet Palestinian president Mahmud Abbas in Paris on Tuesday to discuss the “full implementation” of the Gaza ceasefire agreement, the Elysee said.
The meeting comes a month into a fragile truce between Hamas and Israel, following two years of war triggered by the Palestinian militant group’s October 7, 2023 attack against Israel.
Abbas, 89, is the longtime head of the Palestinian Authority, which exercises limited control over parts of the West Bank and is being considered to assume governance in Gaza under the deal.
The two leaders “will discuss the next steps in the peace plan, particularly in the areas of security, governance and reconstruction,” said the French presidency.
Brokered by US President Donald Trump, the October 10 ceasefire has been tested by fresh Israeli strikes and claims of Palestinian attacks on Israeli soldiers.
Trump said last week he expected an International Stabilization Force tasked with monitoring the ceasefire to be in Gaza “very soon.”
The meeting also follows Macron’s decision in September to recognize a Palestinian state at a United Nations summit – a move the Palestinian Authority hailed as “historic and courageous.”
During talks with Abbas, Macron is expected to discuss the need to maintain humanitarian aid access for Gaza and to address changes within the Palestinian Authority.
Reforming the governing body is essential for a “democratic and sovereign Palestinian state, living in peace and security alongside Israel,” the Elysee said.
Hamas’s October 2023 attack resulted in the deaths of 1,221 people on the Israeli side, mostly civilians, according to an AFP tally based on official Israeli figures.
The Israeli military’s retaliatory campaign has since killed more than 69,000 Palestinians, also mostly civilians, according to Gaza’s health ministry.
The ministry, whose figures are considered reliable by the United Nations, does not specify the number of fighters killed within this total.