Palestinian President Mahmud Abbas will address the United Nations General Assembly by video on Thursday as world leaders intensify efforts to revive peace talks. His speech comes just days after France led a summit where several Western countries officially recognized the state of Palestine.
The 89-year-old leader will speak despite past opposition from the United States, which under former President Donald Trump barred him and his aides from traveling to New York. This year, the UN voted to allow Abbas to send a video message to world leaders.
Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu has repeatedly vowed not to allow a Palestinian state. Members of his far-right cabinet have also threatened to annex the West Bank, a move critics say would crush hopes for Palestinian independence.
However, French President Emmanuel Macron revealed on Wednesday that Trump now shares Europe’s position against annexation.
“What President Trump told me yesterday was that the Europeans and Americans have the same position,” Macron said in an interview with France 24 and Radio France Internationale.
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Steve Witkoff, Trump’s envoy and longtime associate, told the Concordia summit in New York that Trump had presented a 21-point peace plan to Arab and Islamic leaders.
“I think it addresses Israeli concerns as well as the concerns of all the neighbors in the region. We’re hopeful, and I might say even confident, that in the coming days we’ll be able to announce some sort of breakthrough,” Witkoff said.
A White House official confirmed that Trump wants to bring the conflict “to an expeditious close,” adding that Arab and Muslim leaders expressed interest in working with the US on the proposal.
Macron said the US plan contains key elements of a French roadmap, including the disarmament of Hamas and the deployment of an international stabilization force. A French document seen by AFP also suggests gradually transferring security control in Gaza to a reformed Palestinian Authority once a ceasefire is in place.
Indonesian President Prabowo Subianto, who met with Trump, said his country—the world’s most populous Muslim nation—was willing to send at least 20,000 troops as part of a peace force.
Abbas, who governs parts of the West Bank under the Oslo Accords, has clashed with Hamas, which controls Gaza. In a speech earlier this week, he condemned Hamas’s October 7, 2023, attacks on Israel and urged the group to disarm under the Palestinian Authority.
European leaders have backed Abbas but also pressed him to reform the Palestinian Authority to strengthen its credibility.
Netanyahu is expected to address the UN General Assembly on Friday, setting the stage for sharp contrasts in vision for the region’s future.