Hollande:Palestinian and Israeli peace process on cards

French President Francois Hollande on Friday said he is hopeful to revive the deadlock Israeli-Palestinian peace process, affirming a continuity with his predecessor’s diplomacy in the Middle East.
“We seek to be helpful, that’s the position of France. Be useful to ensure that we can give security, to the ones and to the others,” Hollande said at a joint press conference with the Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas.”We have good relations with the Israelis and the Palestinian Authority, which allows us to pass a number of messages and facilitate the resumption of dialogue,” added the president in his first remarks over the Middle East peace issue since his taking office a month ago.Hollande, who has received Abbas at the Elysee Palace on Friday afternoon, expressed his wish to visit Israel and the Palestinian territories without giving an accurate date.The French head of state underlined the need to resume negotiations “the sooner the better” to find the conditions for peace.”Today we must do everything to facilitate the recognition of a Palestinian state through a process of negotiation,” Hollande said.
For his part, the visiting Palestinian leader reiterated his calls on Israel to accept the creation of a Palestinian state based on the territories division in 1967 and said to work further to collect enough support for a seat in the United Nations (UN).”We will go to UN, if we fail to make progress on the negotiations. The ball is in Netanyahu’s camp. We will seek recognition at the UN General Assembly to get the status of non-member state.”
Direct negotiations between Palestinian and Israeli officials have hit a deadlock since 2008 after an Israeli military raid devastated Gaza strip to halt rocket fires from the enclave ruled by the Hamas movement.

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