Palestinian Authority President Mahmoud Abbas has called on Hamas to disarm, release all hostages and relinquish its hold over Gaza in a significant diplomatic move ahead of a key United Nations conference on Palestinian statehood. In a letter addressed to French President Emmanuel Macron and Saudi Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman, Abbas outlined a series of commitments that the French presidency described as "concrete and unprecedented", raising hopes of renewed momentum towards a two-state solution.
The letter comes ahead of a high-level UN conference in New York, co-chaired by France and Saudi Arabia, aimed at exploring the framework for recognising a Palestinian state. President Macron has tied potential French recognition to several conditions, including Hamas’s disarmament, internal Palestinian reform and a commitment to peace. France’s support is viewed as critical, given its role as a permanent member of the UN Security Council and its influence in the European Union.
Abbas’s message marks a notable hardening of his position on Hamas. He condemned the group's October 2023 attack on Israel, in which 1,200 people were killed and around 250 taken hostage, as "unacceptable and reprehensible". Although initially cautious in his response, Abbas has recently intensified his criticism of Hamas and distanced the Palestinian Authority from the group’s actions.
"Hamas must immediately release all hostages and captives," Abbas wrote in the letter, repeating a call he has made in recent months. He also urged the group to hand over its weapons and to cease its de facto rule over Gaza, which it has controlled since a violent split from the Palestinian Authority in 2007. The division between Hamas in Gaza and the PA in the West Bank has long undermined efforts to achieve Palestinian unity, a fact often cited by Israel to discredit peace talks.
Apart from his demands of Hamas, Abbas proposed a package of reforms intended to meet the expectations of Arab and Western backers. He pledged to abolish the PA’s long-criticised practice of financially supporting the families of Palestinians imprisoned or killed in attacks on Israelis. He also vowed to hold long-overdue presidential and legislative elections within a year, under international observation. No presidential election has taken place since 2005, and Abbas has remained in office despite his term officially ending in 2009.
Responding to another of Macron’s conditions, Abbas signalled openness to the deployment of Arab and international forces in Palestinian territories. He said such a force, operating under a UN Security Council mandate, could help stabilise the region and provide protection as part of a transition to full Palestinian self-rule. He stressed that the future Palestinian state would not be militarised but would instead be committed to maintaining internal order and regional peace.
"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," Abbas wrote.
The Israeli government has strongly opposed the upcoming UN conference and any recognition of Palestinian statehood, particularly under Abbas’s leadership. Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu’s administration has rejected the idea of the PA governing postwar Gaza and has blocked Arab foreign ministers from travelling to the West Bank, accusing them of advancing what it sees as a dangerous political agenda.
Nevertheless, several Arab governments have made their support for Gaza’s postwar reconstruction contingent on a credible pathway to a two-state solution, with the Palestinian Authority regaining control of both territories. France has also signalled its desire to distinguish its diplomatic approach from previous American-led efforts, which have faltered in recent years.
Though scepticism remains over Abbas’s ability or willingness to deliver on these pledges, the tone of the letter and its timing have drawn international attention. France’s position is particularly significant in the wake of recent recognitions of Palestinian statehood by Spain, Ireland and Norway. The revival of peace discussions has coincided with growing international outrage over the devastation in Gaza and the deepening Israeli presence in the occupied West Bank.
"The Palestinian state should be the sole provider of security on its territory," wrote Abbas. "But it has no intention to be a militarised state."
