Terrorism, international coalition... Key takeaways from Emmanuel Macron and Mahmoud Abbas' statements

Sebastien Le Belzic with AFP / Photo credit: PALESTINIAN PRESIDENCY / HANDOUT / ANADOLU / ANADOLU VIA AFP 21:30 p.m., October 24, 2023

Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas on Tuesday urged his French counterpart Emmanuel Macron to work to "stop the aggression" in Gaza, on the 18th day of the war between Israel and the Palestinian Islamist movement Hamas. "We urge you, President Macron, to stop this aggression," Mahmoud Abbas said in statements to reporters after his meeting with the French president at the Palestinian Authority headquarters in Ramallah, in the occupied West Bank.

"I see, I hear the suffering of the civilian population in Gaza, and for France, nothing can justify it," the French president replied. "A Palestinian life is worth a French life that is worth an Israeli life," he added. The Hamas attack is "also a catastrophe for the Palestinians," he said.

"International Peace Coalition"

While Emmanuel Macron had earlier affirmed Israel's right to defend itself in Jerusalem, Mahmoud Abbas blamed Israel "and the countries that support it" for the conflict, without once mentioning Hamas. The Palestinian president also called for the establishment of "an international coalition for peace" and the holding of an "international peace conference", appearing to respond indirectly to the proposal made earlier on Tuesday by Emmanuel Macron to set up an international coalition to "fight" against Hamas.

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Mahmoud Abbas condemned in harsh terms the Israeli bombing of the Gaza Strip "which kills innocent civilians in a barbaric manner." Hamas' Health Ministry says 5,791 people have been killed since October 7 and the beginning of Israeli strikes on the Gaza Strip. The bombing was in response to the unprecedented attack by Hamas that day, which killed more than 1,400 people and held hostage by 200 people.

A "merciless and unambiguous fight against terrorism"

In front of Mahmoud Abbas, Emmanuel Macron again pleaded for a revival of a political process between Israel and the Palestinians. He had already done so earlier in the day in Jerusalem. He said the future of the Palestinians lay in a "merciless and unambiguous" fight against terrorism, and insisted on the mutual recognition of the rights of Israel and the Palestinians.

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"There will be no lasting peace without recognition of the legitimate right of the Palestinian people to a territory and a state. There will be no lasting peace without the assumed recognition by the Palestinian people and their authorities of a State of Israel and the importance of its existence and security," he said.