French President Emmanuel Macron said on Tuesday, after talks with Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas in Paris, that France will help the Palestinian Authority draft a constitution for its future state.
A number of major Western countries, including France, formally recognized Palestinian statehood in September, a move driven by frustration with Israel over its devastating war in Gaza and a desire to promote a two-state solution to the conflict in the Middle East.
A US-brokered ceasefire agreement was reached between Israel and Hamas in October, but Israel once again rejected any possibility of a Palestinian state.
Macron said that France and the Palestinian Authority, which exercises limited self-rule under the Israeli military occupation in the West Bank, will form a joint committee to work on drafting a new Palestinian constitution.
He told reporters, “This committee will be responsible for working on all legal aspects: constitutional, institutional and regulatory.” Macron said: “It will contribute to the work on developing a new constitution, a draft of which President Abbas presented to me, and it will aim to put the final touches on all the conditions for this Palestinian state.”
He added that France will contribute 100 million euros ($116.62 million) in humanitarian aid to Gaza for the year 2025. Abbas said: “We are committed to a culture of dialogue and peace, and we want an unarmed democratic state committed to the rule of law, transparency, justice, pluralism and the rotation of power.”
He said he appreciates the efforts made by US President Donald Trump and global partners to end the fighting in Gaza and achieve the next stage towards a lasting peace with the disarmament of armed groups, including Hamas.
The move by France, Britain, Canada and Australia to recognize a Palestinian state joins more than 140 other countries that also support the Palestinians’ ambition to establish an independent homeland from the territories occupied by Israel.
But US President Donald Trump condemned the wave of confessions, echoing close ally Israel’s position that doing so would “reward” Hamas for its October 7, 2023, attack on Israel that led to the Gaza war.
(Tags for translation) Macron
