• Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas will meet with French President Emmanuel Macron next week.
• Peace talks between Israel and the Palestinians have not been held since 2014.
• Palestinian elections scheduled for last year were cancelled due to Israeli refusal to allow them to take place in Israeli-annexed east Jerusalem.

The Palestinian Foreign Ministry announced Thursday that Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas will meet with French President Emmanuel Macron in Paris next week to discuss the “peace process” and elections.

According to a statement, Abbas will also discuss “putting pressure on Israel to provide the appropriate atmosphere for holding the Palestinian elections, specifically in the city of Jerusalem.”

Direct peace talks between Israel and the Palestinians have not been held since 2014.

Palestinian elections scheduled for last year were cancelled, with Abbas citing Israel’s refusal to allow them to take place in Israeli-annexed east Jerusalem.

The announcement came after Palestinian foreign minister Riyad al-Maliki met his French counterpart Catherine Colonna.

Last week, Israel’s new Prime Minister Yair Lapid headed to Paris for his first foreign trip as leader to meet Macron, who said there was “no alternative to a resumption of political dialogue between the Israelis and the Palestinians”.

On Friday, Abbas will meet with US Vice President Joe Biden in Bethlehem, in the occupied West Bank.

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