Abbas hopes Pope’s pen could sign peace deal

(ANSA) – Vatican City, October 17 – A pen given by Pope Francis to the Palestinian president might be used to sign a peace deal with Israel, Mahmoud Abbas said Thursday.

“I hope that I sign with this (pen) a peace treaty with Israel,” Abbas, the president of the Palestinian National Authority (PNA) said after meetings with the pope.

Pope Francis has frequently called for peace among warring countries, including in the Middle East.

The PNA governs the West Bank while Hamas controls the Gaza Strip. And in his Easter message the pope called specifically for: “Peace for the Middle East, and particularly between Israelis and Palestinians, who struggle to find the road of agreement, that they may willingly and courageously resume negotiations to end a conflict that has lasted all too long”.