Palestinian Authority Chairman Mahmud Abbas announced that he will meet French President Francois Hollande in Paris later this month to discuss a French initiative to organize an international conferece to restart peace talks between Israel and the Palestinians.

Abbas "will have an important meeting with President François Hollande to discuss the convening of an international peace conference, according to the French initiative," his spokesman Nabil Abou Roudeina said.

He said "France plays an important role in efforts to establish a just, comprehensive and lasting peace in accordance with international resolutions.’’

Following the visit to Paris, Abbas will travel to Berlin for talks with German Chancellor Angela Merkel, and then fly to Moscow where he is to meet Russian President Vladimir Putin to discuss "political developments in the Middle East."

The Palestinian leader will wind up the trip with meetings at the UN in New York.

In January, outgoing French Foreign Minister Laurent Fabius originally presented the French initiative to organize an international conference, threatening that Paris would formally recognize a Palestinian state should its efforts to renew the peace process fail.

“France will engage in the coming weeks in the preparation of an international conference bringing together the parties and their main partners to preserve and achieve the two-state solution,” Fabius told a conference of French diplomats in Paris.

But his successor, Jean-Marc Ayrault, later said the recognition would not be automatic.

While Abbas welcomed the French initiative, Israeli officials blasted the initiative as "an erroneous approach" that gives Palestinian Authority President Mahmoud Abbas an excuse not to negotiate with Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu.

Israel has always been in favour of direct peace talks.

Israeli officials said Netanyahu would decide whether or not to participate in the conference only after receiving an invitation.

Earlier this week, Israel’s Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu challenged Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas to pay him a visit.

“President Abbas said on Israeli television a few days ago that if I invite him, he’ll come,” Netanyahu told visiting Czech Foreign Minister Lubomir Zaoralek in Jerusalem. “I’m inviting him. I’ve cleared my schedule for the week. Any day he can come, I’ll be here.”

“The first order of business will be ending the Palestinian campaign of incitement to murder Israelis,” Netanyahu added. “My door is always open for those who want peace with Israel.’’

Last week, Abbas said in a rare televised interview with Israel’s Channel 2’s journalist Ilana Dayan that he would be willing to meet Netanyahu “at any time” to negotiate a peace settlement, in a response to Netanyahu’s repeated calls for peace talks with Abbas without preconditions..

At least 31 Israelis have been killed in a current wave of Palestinian terror attacks on Israelis, which have at times been perpetrated on a near-daily basis.

Israeli leaders across the political spectrum have long complained that incendiary rhetoric from Palestinian leaders, including Abbas helps stoke the violence.