Embassy of Palestine, Paris

Embassy of Palestine in France
The chancery building in February 2026
LocationParis, France
Address14 Rue du Commandant-Léandri, 75015 Paris
Coordinates48°50′19″N 2°17′33″E / 48.838493°N 2.292538°E / 48.838493; 2.292538
AmbassadorHala Abou-Hassira

The Embassy of Palestine in France (French: Ambassade de Palestine en France) is the diplomatic mission of the State of Palestine in France. It was known as the Mission of Palestine in France until March 2026, when it obtained the rank of an embassy. The embassy is located at 14 Rue du Commandant-Léandri in the 15th arrondissement of Paris.[1] Its ambassador, since 2021, is Hala Abou-Hassira.[1]

History

The Palestine Liberation Organization (PLO) maintained an unofficial presence in France before receiving authorization to open a formal office. From around 1970, the French authorities tolerated an unofficial PLO representation at the Paris office of the Arab League.[2] Mahmoud Hamshari, the PLO's first representative in France, was assassinated in Paris in December 1972 in an attack attributed to Israel's Mossad.[3][4]

In October 1975, the French government authorised the PLO to open an information and liaison office in Paris.[3] According to Éric Aeschimann and Christophe Boltanski, remarks by Jacques Chirac reported in Yedioth Ahronoth on 15 August 1986 stated that Chirac, then Prime Minister of France, and foreign minister Jean Sauvagnargues had not been aware of the office's opening, and that the authorisation had been given by President Valéry Giscard d'Estaing.[5]

In January 1989, President François Mitterrand announced that the PLO office in Paris would be upgraded to a "General Delegation of Palestine". Because France did not then recognise Palestine as a state, the delegation was not granted diplomatic status or the privileges attached to it, including immunity.[6]

In July 2010, French foreign minister Bernard Kouchner upgraded the General Delegation of Palestine to the "Mission of Palestine" and granted its head the title of "Ambassador, head of the Palestinian Mission".[7] The upgrade enabled the Palestinian head of mission, Hael al-Fahoum, to present credentials to the President of France.[8]

France recognised the State of Palestine on 22 September 2025, when President Emmanuel Macron made the declaration at the United Nations General Assembly.[9][10]

On 25 March 2026, Hala Abou-Hassira presented her credentials to President Emmanuel Macron as ambassador extraordinary and plenipotentiary of the State of Palestine. The presentation of credentials marked the elevation of the Palestinian representation in France from mission to embassy.[11][12]

Representatives

Salman El-Herfi (left), ambassador of Palestine in France, and Jack Lang, president of the Institut du Monde Arabe in Paris, inaugurate the exhibition Palestine, la création dans tous ses états in 2016.
Term Presented credentials Representative
PLO representatives before formal diplomatic status
before 1972 Mahmoud Hamshari[3][4]
1973–1978 Ezzedine Kalak[13]
General Delegation of Palestine
1978–1993 Ibrahim Souss[14]
1993–2006 Leila Shahid[15]
2006–2010 Hind Khoury[15][16]
Mission of Palestine
2010–2016 9 June 2010 Hael al-Fahoum[7][17]
2016–2021 15 February 2016 Salman El-Herfi[18]
2021–2026 2 November 2021 Hala Abou-Hassira[19][20]
Embassy of Palestine
2026–present 25 March 2026 Hala Abou-Hassira[11][12]

See also

References

  1. 1 2 "Mission de Palestine en France". France Diplomatie (in French). Ministry for Europe and Foreign Affairs (France). Retrieved 15 May 2026.
  2. ↑ Filiu, Jean-Pierre (2005). Mitterrand et la Palestine: l'ami d'Israël qui sauva par trois fois Yasser Arafat (in French). Paris: Fayard. p. 368. ISBN 2-213-62468-2.
  3. 1 2 3 "Le gouvernement français autorise l'O.L.P. à ouvrir un bureau d'information à Paris". Le Monde (in French). 3 November 1975. Retrieved 15 May 2026.
  4. 1 2 Guttmann, Aviva (2025). "Western Intelligence and Mossad Assassinations in Europe, 1972–1973". The English Historical Review. 140 (604–605): 777–805. doi:10.1093/ehr/ceaf113. Retrieved 15 May 2026.
  5. ↑ Aeschimann, Éric; Boltanski, Christophe (2006). Chirac d'Arabie: les mirages d'une politique française (in French). Paris: Grasset. p. 430. ISBN 978-2-246-69121-1.
  6. ↑ "Le bureau de l'OLP à Paris va devenir "délégation générale de Palestine"". Le Monde (in French). 7 January 1989. Retrieved 13 January 2024.
  7. 1 2 AFP (24 July 2010). "La Palestine mieux représentée à Paris". Le Figaro (in French). Retrieved 15 May 2026.
  8. ↑ Paris, Gilles (25 July 2010). "Le délégué de la Palestine en France devient ambassadeur". Le Monde (in French). Retrieved 13 January 2024.
  9. ↑ "80th session of the United Nations General Assembly in New York: opening day". Élysée Palace. 22 September 2025. Retrieved 15 May 2026. I declare that France today recognizes the State of Palestine.
  10. ↑ Moisset, Benjamin (23 September 2025). "« Proclamer ne suffit pas » : la France a reconnu l'État de Palestine, et après ?". Le Parisien (in French). Retrieved 5 October 2025.
  11. 1 2 Barthe, Benjamin (25 March 2026). "La représentation palestinienne en France obtient le rang d'ambassade". Le Monde (in French). Retrieved 25 March 2026.
  12. 1 2 "Remise de lettre de créance". Journal officiel de la République française (in French). 27 March 2026. NOR EAEP2608019X. Retrieved 15 May 2026.
  13. ↑ Rondot, Philippe (Spring 1987). "France and Palestine: From Charles de Gaulle to François Mitterrand". Journal of Palestine Studies. 16 (3): 87–100. doi:10.2307/2536798. JSTOR 2536798.
  14. ↑ Mardam-Bey, Farouk, ed. (1996). Écrivains arabes d'hier et d'aujourd'hui: catalogue biobibliographique, ouvrages publiés en France disponibles au 31 décembre 1995 (in French). Arles / Paris: Sindbad (Actes Sud) / Institut du Monde Arabe. p. 114. ISBN 2-7427-0790-5.
  15. 1 2 "Hind Khoury : la voix de la Palestine à Paris". Le Monde (in French). 4 January 2006. Retrieved 15 May 2026.
  16. ↑ "Hind Khoury/Israël-Palestine: Quelques notes biographiques". provence-alpes-corse-cote-azur.eglisereformeedefrance.fr (in French). United Protestant Church of France. Retrieved 15 May 2026.
  17. ↑ "السفير الفاهوم يقدم أوراق اعتماده مفوضا عاما لفلسطين بفرنسا" [Ambassador Al-Fahoum presents his credentials as Commissioner General of Palestine to France]. WAFA News Agency. 9 June 2010. Archived from the original on 22 January 2021.
  18. ↑ "Remise de lettres de créance". Journal officiel de la République française (in French). 20 February 2016. text no. 6, NOR MAEP1604259X. Retrieved 15 May 2026.
  19. ↑ "Remise de lettres de créance". Journal officiel de la République française (in French). 4 November 2021. text no. 2, NOR EAEP2132775X. Retrieved 15 May 2026.
  20. ↑ Pontus, Arnaud (5 December 2022). "Hala Abou-Hassira, ambassadrice de Palestine: «Le manque d'action de la communauté internationale nous inquiète»" (in French). RFI. Retrieved 13 January 2024.
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