French President Emmanuel Macron and the President of the Palestinian Authority Mahmoud Abbas announced the creation of a joint committee that will work on consolidating Palestine and drafting its Constitution.

The announcement was made during a joint meeting at the Élysée Palace on November 11, after Abbas’s visit to the French capital.

Macron stressed that the top priority is reforms that will make Palestine a viable, democratic, and sovereign neighbor to Israel.

 He also noted the priority of transparent and democratic elections – presidential and parliamentary – across all Palestinian territories, including East Jerusalem.

Abbas reaffirmed his commitment to reforms, including the swift holding of presidential and parliamentary elections.

Macron had previously emphasized that elections in Palestine should take place a year after the transition to the second phase of the Gaza ceasefire, which envisages demilitarization and the disbanding of Hamas.

Abbas noted that the Palestinian security forces, trained in Egypt and Jordan, are ready to deploy in the Gaza Strip in coordination with the multinational forces provided for by Donald Trump’s peace plan.

This was Mahmoud Abbas’s first official visit since Palestine was recognized by a number of countries under France’s auspices in September this year.