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Abbas to Macron: We Recognize the State of Israel, Want it to Recognize Palestine

French President Emmanuel Macron and Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas meet in Ramallah in the West Bank on Tuesday. (AP)
French President Emmanuel Macron and Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas meet in Ramallah in the West Bank on Tuesday. (AP)
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Abbas to Macron: We Recognize the State of Israel, Want it to Recognize Palestine

French President Emmanuel Macron and Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas meet in Ramallah in the West Bank on Tuesday. (AP)
French President Emmanuel Macron and Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas meet in Ramallah in the West Bank on Tuesday. (AP)

Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas said on Tuesday that Palestine has recognized the State of Israel and its right to exist for 40 years, asking Israel in turn to recognize a Palestinian state and its right to exist.

Abbas received French President Emmanuel Macron in Ramallah, who visited Israel to show solidarity following the Hamas attack on Oct. 7.

The Palestinian President demanded a "complete ceasefire" in the Gaza Strip and the opening of permanent corridors to deliver humanitarian aid to people in the coastal enclave.

Abbas urged France to use its influence in the United Nations Security Council to stop the Israeli aggression on Gaza immediately, provide urgent international protection for the Palestinians, hold an international peace conference, and work on a political solution.

Abbas accused Israel of choosing a destructive military option instead of peace, saying Tel Aviv and the countries backing it were responsible for the destruction and deaths in the Strip.

The President rejected displacing Palestinians from their homes and lands, whether they are in Gaza, the West Bank, or Jerusalem.

He warned that military options may lead to a regional or global war.

The Gaza Strip is part of the Palestinian territory occupied since 1967, said Abbas, asserting his rejection of any partial or security solutions for the enclave.

Moreover, Abbas stressed the commitment of Palestine to international legitimacy and signed agreements, policies of non-violence, and peaceful popular resistance.

The Palestinian leader condemned the killing of civilians on both sides and called for the release of civilians, prisoners, and detainees held by both parties.

For his part, Macron focused on an international coalition against Hamas, saying it does not represent the Palestinian people.

He told reporters that "nothing can justify" the suffering of civilians in the Palestinian territory, stressing that civilian lives have the same value, regardless of nationality.

Macron described Hamas as terrorist, telling Abbas there must be a security and peace initiative based on combating all terrorist groups.

In Ramallah, Palestinians protested against Macron's visit, following his positions in support of Israel.

Macron pledged to ensure financial support for the Palestinians in the West Bank and accelerate sending aid to the Gaza Strip.

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Arab World

Lebanon Begins Removing Palestinian Arms Outside of Refugee Camps

The army enters a position of a Palestinian group. (Lebanese Army)
The army enters a position of a Palestinian group. (Lebanese Army)
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Lebanon Begins Removing Palestinian Arms Outside of Refugee Camps

The army enters a position of a Palestinian group. (Lebanese Army)
The army enters a position of a Palestinian group. (Lebanese Army)

Lebanon kicked off on Saturday the process of removing weapons in possession of Palestinian factions outside of their refugee camps.

The arms are mainly held by groups allied with the ousted Syrian regime that were based in several areas in the Bekaa, South, Beirut and the border with Syria.

The Lebanese army announced on Saturday that it had taken over three military positions that were affiliated with two Palestinian factions that were close to Bashar al-Assad's former regime.

Two of the positions are in the eastern and western Bekaa and belonged to the Popular Front for the Liberation of Palestine – General Command. The third, in Rashaya, belonged to the Fatah al-Intifada group.

A security source told Asharq Al-Awsat that the army intelligence has been working on this issue for some time now and was close to completely resolving it.

The army said it had seized a large number of weapons and ammunition, as well as military gear.

The removal of the weapons outside state control is part of the ceasefire agreement reached between Israel and Hezbollah and which calls for dismantling all non-licensed military facilities that manufacture weapons in Lebanon.

The agreement also calls for removing all unlicensed weapons starting from regions south of the Litani River.

A similar agreement for the removal of Palestinian weapons was reached in March 2006, but it was never implemented.

A Lebanese security source, however, said that the latest progress in removing the Palestinian weapons has nothing to do with the ceasefire. Rather, it is related to the collapse of Assad's regime.

These factions were loyal to the regime, and they received funding and equipment from it, the source told Asharq Al-Awsat.

Hisham Debsi, the Director of the Tatweer Center for Studies, said the positions the army has taken over are tied to factions that are affiliated with Syrian security agencies.

He told Asharq Al-Awsat that the army should have been able to take over these locations as soon as United Nations Security Council resolution 1559 was issued in 2004.

The Palestinian Authority at the time agreed to the handover of weapons outside and inside refugee camps, but Hezbollah objected to the move and said it needed to be discussed at a dialogue among Lebanese political powers, Debsi went on to say.

At the dialogue, Hezbollah agreed to the removal of weapons inside and outside the camps, but it later thwarted the plan, he added.

The current removal of arms is tied to the implementation of resolution 1701 and others, notably 1559. It is also directly connected to the sudden and dramatic toppling of the Assad regime, he explained.

The Hayat Tahrir al-Sham, Syria’s interim rulers, had issued orders for Palestinian groups affiliated with the regime to lay down their arms. “These factions, which had raised the Palestinian flag and done nothing but harm the Palestinian and Lebanese people, no longer have their regional and Lebanese backers,” so they had no choice but to yield to the orders, Debsi said.

The conditions are ripe for the Lebanese state to impose its sovereignty, through the army, across all its territories and end the presence of any Palestinian armed groups outside the refugee camps, he stressed.

Moreover, the state has the right to impose its authority over the camps and remove the weapons there, he remarked.

At the moment, the removal of Palestinian weapons does not appear to be a precursor to Hezbollah laying down its weapons in areas north of the Litani.

Such a move demands a “major political decision that is off the table at the moment,” said the sources.