Abbas to hold bilateral talks in Paris ‘in coming weeks’

Palestinian Authority President Mahmoud Abbas will visit Paris “in the coming weeks” for bilateral talks, an official at the French president’s office said on Thursday.

The announcement came after Abbas spoke by telephone with President Francois Hollande ahead of an international Middle East peace conference to be hosted by Paris on Sunday.

The conference, said to be attended by representatives from some 70 nations, is aimed at exploring ways to restart long-stalled Israeli-Palestinian peace efforts.

Abbas has not confirmed his attendance but Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu on Thursday dismissed the conference as “rigged,” and his government has refused to play any role in the summit

Netanyahu has said instead that he is willing to hold direct talks.

Hollande stressed that the Paris conference would be an occasion “for the international community to underscore its interest in a two-state solution and the need for direct dialogue between the two sides,” the president’s office source said.

The Palestinians have welcomed the multilateral approach, saying years of negotiations have failed to yield results

Israeli-Palestinian peace efforts have been at a standstill since a US-led initiative collapsed in April 2014.

The conference comes on the heels of a landmark UN Security Council resolution passed on December 23 calling for a halt to Israeli settlement building on land the Palestinians claim for a future state.

In a rare move, the United States declined to use its veto and abstained, allowing the measure to pass 14-0.

Israel fears Sunday’s conference will produce measures that could then be taken to the Security Council and approved before January 20 — when Donald Trump takes over as US president.