Emmanuel Macron and Mahmoud Abbas
Emmanuel Macron and Mahmoud AbbasReuters

Palestinian Authority (PA) chairman Mahmoud Abbas will hold talks with French President Emmanuel Macron in Paris next week focusing on the "peace process" and elections, the PA’s “foreign ministry” said Thursday, according to the AFP news agency.

Abbas, who is due to meet Macron on July 20, will also discuss "putting pressure on Israel to provide the appropriate atmosphere for holding the Palestinian elections, specifically in the city of Jerusalem", a statement read.

The PA chairman previously met Macron in 2020, when he expressed hope that France will recognize a Palestinian state.

Palestinian Arab officials have been pressuring countries to officially recognize “Palestine”, in a move meant to bypass direct peace talks with Israel.

While several European countries have recognized “Palestine” in recent years, those moves were symbolic ones that have little, if any, actual diplomatic effect.

Direct peace talks between Israel and the PA have not been held since 2014, when the PA unilaterally applied to join international organizations in breach of the conditions of US-brokered negotiations held at the time.

PA elections were scheduled for last year, but Abbas officially announced that they would be postponed. While he cited Israel’s refusal to allow Arabs residing in eastern Jerusalem to vote as the reason for the postponement, many believe that the real reason is Abbas’ fear that he would lose the elections to Hamas.

The PA has continuously demanded that Israel permit Arabs residing in eastern Jerusalem to vote in the elections. In this regard, PA officials worked in the international arena in an attempt to get Israel to agree to this demand.