Palestinian Authority President Mahmoud Abbas will attend a mass national rally in Paris on Sunday to pay tribute to the 17 victims of Islamist attacks there this week, including four people killed at a Jewish supermarket, a diplomatic source said.
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Abbas will be joined by many world leaders, including Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu, at the rally which is expected to draw more than a million people.
Ahead of the rally, Abbas is slated to meet with French President Francois Hollande.
On Saturday, Abbas called Hollande to offer condolences over the attacks.
“‘At this solemn moment of tragedy our hearts and minds are with you in the face of terrorism that has no religion,” Abbas said, according to the official Palestinian WAFA news agency “The entire Palestinian people are pained by what has taken place.”
According to WAFA, Hollande told Abbas he appreciated the messages of support from Arab countries, “so that we can prevent the attempts to heighten emotions and link these criminal actions with Islam.”
France surprised many it late December when it voted in favor of a United Nations Security Council resolution calling for a Palestinian state and setting a timetable for Israeli withdrawal from the West Bank and East Jerusalem.
The measure ultimately failed after garnering only eight out of 15 votes.
The anti-terror rally Sunday afternoon is expected to draw some 30 world leaders, including British Prime Minister David Cameron, Jordan’s King Abdullah and Turkish prime Minister Ahmet Davutoglu.
Israeli Foreign Minister Avigdor Liberman and Economy Minister Naftali Bennett are also slated to attend.