Palestinian Abbas backs two-state solution ahead of conference
Palestinian Authority President Mahmoud Abbas has expressed a desire to move towards a two-state solution, which envisions Israelis and Palestinians living side by side in two separate states.
Abbas sent a letter to French President Emmanuel Macron, the co-initiator of an international conference on the two-state solution, set to take place at the United Nations in New York in just a few days.
In his letter, Abbas made concrete commitments that demonstrate a genuine desire to move towards a two-state solution, the Élysée Palace in Paris said on Tuesday.
Abbas also condemned the hostage-taking and killing of civilians by the Palestinian Islamist group Hamas on October 7, 2023, as unacceptable and reprehensible, it added.
France and Saudi Arabia announced the upcoming conference, which aims to deliver concrete results to advance a two-state solution for Israel and a Palestinian state.
Macron has repeatedly expressed his openness to recognizing a Palestinian state on the condition that Hamas lays down its arms and releases all hostages still held in the Gaza Strip.
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