PARIS: Palestinian president Mahmud Abbas has said that Hamas “must hand over its weapons” and called for the deployment of international forces to protect “the Palestinian people”, France announced on Tuesday.

In a letter addressed on Monday to French President Emmanuel Macron and Saudi Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman, who this month will co-chair a conference on a two-state solution for Israel and the Palestinians, Abbas outlined the main steps that he thinks must be taken to end the war in Gaza and achieve peace in the Middle East.

“Hamas will no longer rule Gaza and must hand over its weapons and military capabilities to the Palestinian security forces,” wrote Abbas.

He said he was “ready to invite Arab and international forces to be deployed as part of a stabilisation/protection mission with a (UN) Security Council mandate.” The conference at UN headquarters later this month will aim to resurrect the idea of a two-state solution — Israel currently controls large parts of the Palestinian territories.

Published in Dawn, June 11th, 2025