RAMALLAH, February 18, 2026 (WAFA) – President Mahmoud Abbas mourned on Wednesday Leila Shahid, an outstanding Palestinian diplomat, who died in southern France aged 76.
President Abbas stated that Shahid devoted her life to defending the Palestinian cause and was a genuine voice for Palestinian diplomacy, carrying out the duties entrusted to her with competence and distinction, and contributing to strengthening the presence of the Palestinian cause on the European and international arena.
He praised her as a model of diplomacy committed to the values of freedom, justice, and peace, noting that she remained faithful to her people’s message until her final days.
Born in Beirut in 1949, She studied anthropology and sociology at the American University of Beirut, where she became involved at an early stage in social and political activities within Palestinian refugee camps until 1974. She later moved to Paris to pursue a PhD in anthropology, and in 1976 she assumed the presidency of the Palestinian Students Union in France.
She then embarked on a diplomatic career, becoming in 1989 the first woman to represent the Palestine Liberation Organization (PLO) in Ireland, before being appointed as the organization’s representative in the Netherlands in 1990.
Between 1993 and 2005, she served as Palestine’s envoy to France. Later, from 2006 to 2014, she served as the general delegate of Palestine to the European Union in Brussels, in addition to Belgium and Luxembourg.
K.F.
