Hamas must hand over its weapons, Mahmoud Abbas tells Emmanuel Macron

France says it obtained Palestinian reform pledges a week ahead of a two-state solution conference

Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas with French President Emmanuel Macron, in Ramallah, in the occupied West Bank. Reuters

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Hamas must hand over its weapons and international forces could be posted in the Palestinian territories, Palestinian Authority President Mahmoud Abbas said in a letter to French President Emmanuel Macron, a week before a Saudi-French conference on the two-state solution.

Mr Abbas condemned the October 2023 Hamas-led attack on southern Israel and called on all hostages to be released, as well as pledging further reforms, the Elysee Palace said on Tuesday. France could use the conference to become the most prominent western power to back recognition of an independent Palestinian state.

The letter to Mr Macron contains “unprecedented” pledges, his office said, without elaborating.

“Hamas will no longer rule Gaza and must hand over its weapons and military capabilities to the Palestinian security forces, which will oversee their removal outside the occupied Palestinian territory, with Arab and international support,” the French leader's office quoted Mr Abbas as saying in the letter.

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

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

French officials have said Mr Macron is leaning towards recognising a Palestinian state ahead of the UN conference, which France and Saudi Arabia are co-hosting from June 17 to 20. Mr Macron has said he is “determined” to recognise a Palestinian state, but also set out several conditions, including the “demilitarisation” of Hamas.

The conference at UN headquarters will aim to resurrect the idea of a two-state solution to the Palestinian-Israeli conflict.

The PA exercises limited self rule in parts of the occupied West Bank but lost control of Gaza to Hamas in 2007. The PA has previously condemned Hamas for the attack that led to the Gaza war and has called for the group to be disarmed in a future settlement.

Israel has said it will not accept any role for the PA in Gaza after the war and has denounced countries that consider recognising Palestinian independence, which it says would reward Hamas for its attacks.

Mr Abbas has lead the internationally recognised Palestinian Authority since the death of leader Yasser Arafat in 2004.