Secretly, French president suggests Palestinians compromise on refugee issue

French President Francois Hollande has suggested for the Palestinian Authority (PA) President Mahmoud Abbas to show more flexibility over the issue of refugees in order to pave the way for a peace deal with Israeli, newspapers revealed on Monday.

It was reported by different mass media that Hollande told Abbas that Palestinians need to make an effort to deal with difficult and complicated problems, notably the refugees.

Israeli newspaper Haaretz reported that Hollande suggested for Abbas to make difficult decisions regarding refugees in return for the Palestinian demand to stop settlements.

According to the newspaper, he suggested this idea to revive the peace process.

However, in the press conference with Abbas in Ramallah, Hollande did not mention this and only spoke about the official French stance towards settlements: that they must be stopped.

The newspaper reported that the issue of the refugees was also taken up by Hollande and Netanyahu during their meeting. Haaretz described the issue as the most difficult one ahead of reaching a peace deal between Israel and Palestine.

Hollande reiterated his country’s support for the two-state solution and for Jerusalem to be the capital of both states.

The French president hailed his country’s strong relationship with Israel: “65 years later I come to Israel to say, in the name of France: The friendship between us is firm, more than the passing leaders who come and go, and even more than the ups and downs of international life.”