{"id":12683,"date":"2026-02-18T22:56:49","date_gmt":"2026-02-18T22:56:49","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/inernews.online\/?p=12683"},"modified":"2026-02-18T22:56:49","modified_gmt":"2026-02-18T22:56:49","slug":"leila-shahid-palestinian-diplomat-dies-in-france-aged-76-obituaries-news","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/inernews.online\/?p=12683","title":{"rendered":"Leila Shahid, Palestinian diplomat, dies in France aged 76 | Obituaries News"},"content":{"rendered":"<p> <br \/>\n<\/p>\n<div id=\"\">\n<p class=\"article__subhead\"><em>Tributes pour in for former Palestinian envoy to France and EU, remembered as \u2018voice for justice, freedom and peace\u2019.<\/em><\/p>\n<\/div>\n<div><button class=\"article-listen-container\" aria-labelledby=\"listen-text listen-duration\" data-testid=\"listen-to-article-button\"><\/p>\n<p><span class=\"article-listen-container__text\" data-testid=\"listen-to-article-text\">Listen to this article<\/span><span aria-hidden=\"true\">\u00a0|\u00a0<\/span><span class=\"article-listen-container__duration\">4 mins<\/span><\/p>\n<p><\/button><button tabindex=\"0\" class=\"tooltip-accessible_trigger\"><svg class=\"icon icon--info icon--main-grey-dark icon--16 listen-to-article-tooltip__icon\" viewbox=\"0 0 24 24\" version=\"1.1\" aria-hidden=\"true\" role=\"presentation\"><title>info<\/title><path class=\"icon-main-color\" d=\"M12 0a12 12 0 1 0 0 24 12 12 0 0 0 0-24Zm-.226 3.225a2.039 2.039 0 0 1 2.155 1.924v.193a1.998 1.998 0 0 1-2.155 2.149 2.029 2.029 0 0 1-2.146-2.15 2.039 2.039 0 0 1 1.955-2.122h.193l-.002.006Zm3.227 15.525a.75.75 0 0 1-.752.75H9.75a.75.75 0 0 1-.75-.75v-1.5a.75.75 0 0 1 .752-.75h.748V12h-.75a.75.75 0 0 1-.75-.75v-1.5a.75.75 0 0 1 .752-.751h3a.75.75 0 0 1 .75.752v6.75h.75a.75.75 0 0 1 .75.749L15 18.75Z\"\/><\/svg><\/button><\/div>\n<div aria-live=\"polite\" aria-atomic=\"true\">\n<p>Leila Shahid, the first female diplomat to represent Palestine abroad, has died at age 76, drawing an outpouring of condolences and tributes.<\/p>\n<p>Citing Shahid\u2019s family, Le Monde newspaper said the former Palestinian ambassador to France died on Wednesday at her home in the south of the country.<\/p>\n<section class=\"more-on\">\n<h2 class=\"more-on__heading\">Recommended Stories<!-- --> <\/h2>\n<p><span class=\"screen-reader-text\">list of 3 items<\/span><span class=\"screen-reader-text\">end of list<\/span><\/section>\n<p>\u201cShe died today,\u201d her sister Zeina told the AFP news agency, without providing further details.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cLeila Shahid, the iconic ambassador of Palestine, has left us,\u201d Hala Abou-Hassira, the Palestinian ambassador to France, wrote on social media. \u201cA tremendous loss for Palestine and for the world that believes in justice.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>Majed Bamya, the deputy Palestinian envoy to the United Nations, also paid tribute to Shahid, describing her as \u201ca voice for justice, freedom and peace\u201d.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cShe is Palestine personified in the francophone world. She\u2019s the one who convinced me to join the diplomatic corps, or as she put it, to have the honour of representing a cause and a people,\u201d Bamya wrote on X.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cI had the honour of serving alongside her, of learning alongside her, of witnessing her magnanimity and compassion, and seeing how she embodies the aspirations and suffering of her people.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>Hussam Zumlot, the Palestinian ambassador to the United Kingdom, also hailed Shahid as \u201ca towering figure, a role model and one of the most inspiring diplomats Palestine has ever known\u201d.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cPalestine has lost a seasoned and steadfast voice \u2014 one who carried her people\u2019s cause with grace, conviction, and unwavering dedication,\u201d he wrote on X.<\/p>\n<h2 id=\"her-fight-is-our-fight\">\u2018Her fight is our fight\u2019<\/h2>\n<p>Born in the Lebanese capital Beirut in 1949, <a href=\"https:\/\/leffest.com\/en\/guests\/leila-shahid\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\">Shahid studied<\/a> at the American University of Beirut, where she met Palestinian leader Yasser Arafat.<\/p>\n<p>She worked in Palestinian refugee camps in Lebanon before becoming the first woman to represent the Palestine Liberation Organization (PLO) abroad, beginning her career in Ireland in 1989, before also becoming a representative in the Netherlands and Denmark.<\/p>\n<p>She served as Palestinian ambassador to France for more than a decade, from 1994 until 2005, and later as the envoy to the European Union, Belgium and Luxembourg.<\/p>\n<figure id=\"attachment_4322696\" aria-describedby=\"caption-attachment-4322696\" style=\"width:770px\" class=\"wp-caption aligncenter\"><img decoding=\"async\" data-recalc-dims=\"1\" loading=\"lazy\" class=\"size-arc-image-770 wp-image-4322696\" src=\"https:\/\/www.aljazeera.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/02\/afp_6995f1dbe33f-1771434459.jpg?w=770&amp;resize=770%2C538&amp;quality=80\" alt=\"(FILES) Palestinian Authority President Yasser Arafat (R), next to Palestine's general delegate in France, Leila Shahid (C), offers flowers to French President Jacques Chirac on July1, 2000 at his arrival at the Elysee Palace in Paris.\" fetchpriority=\"low\"\/><figcaption id=\"caption-attachment-4322696\" class=\"wp-caption-text\">Shahid (centre) alongside Yasser Arafat, right, and then-French President Jacques Chirac in 2000 at the Elysee Palace in Paris [File: AFP]<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n<p>In <a href=\"https:\/\/www.france24.com\/en\/video\/20250923-only-security-for-israel-is-a-palestinian-state-leila-shahid-on-peace-sovereignty-path-forward\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\">an interview<\/a> with France24 in September of last year, Shahid hailed France\u2019s decision to formally recognise a Palestinian state.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cI think it\u2019s very, it\u2019s very important, it\u2019s not only symbolic,\u201d she said. \u201cWe are reminding the world that it\u2019s [about] self-determination, and we don\u2019t know any other form for self-determination except a state.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>But she added that a lot of work still needed to be done \u201cto change the reality\u201d for Palestinians.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cWe know that on the ground, we are witnessing a genocide in Gaza and very, very violent, brutal attacks by the settlers in the West Bank,\u201d she told France24. \u201cWe have been occupied since 1967, and you can\u2019t make a state under military Israeli rule.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>On Wednesday, Abou-Hassira \u2013 the Palestinian ambassador to France \u2013 said in a statement that Shahid never stopped speaking out against the Israeli occupation or believing that \u201cjustice would ultimately prevail\u201d.<\/p>\n<p>Her death comes \u201cas Palestine is experiencing one of the darkest chapters in its history\u201d, Abou-Hassira said.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cIn her memory, we commit to continuing what she started. Her fight is our fight. Her determination is our compass. Her demand for dignity, justice, and truth remains our roadmap.\u201d<\/p>\n<figure id=\"attachment_4322698\" aria-describedby=\"caption-attachment-4322698\" style=\"width:770px\" class=\"wp-caption aligncenter\"><img decoding=\"async\" data-recalc-dims=\"1\" loading=\"lazy\" class=\"size-arc-image-770 wp-image-4322698\" src=\"https:\/\/www.aljazeera.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/02\/afp_6995f1eb68d2-1771434475.jpg?w=770&amp;resize=770%2C506&amp;quality=80\" alt=\"(FILES) Palestinian representative in France Leila Shahid meets people gathered in front of the Percy military hospital in the southwestern Paris suburb of Clamart in support of Palestinian authority leader Yasser Arafat who is being treated, on November 2, 2004.\" fetchpriority=\"low\"\/><figcaption id=\"caption-attachment-4322698\" class=\"wp-caption-text\">Shahid meets people gathered in front of a military hospital near Paris as Yasser Arafat was being treated in 2004 [File: AFP]<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n<\/div>\n<p><br \/><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>Tributes pour in for former Palestinian envoy to France and EU, remembered as \u2018voice for justice, freedom and peace\u2019. Listen to this article\u00a0|\u00a04 mins info Leila Shahid, the first female diplomat to represent Palestine abroad, has died at age 76, drawing an outpouring of condolences and tributes. Citing Shahid\u2019s family, Le Monde newspaper said the [&hellip;]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":12684,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[8],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-12683","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-middle-east-news"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/inernews.online\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/12683","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/inernews.online\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/inernews.online\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/inernews.online\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/inernews.online\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcomments&post=12683"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/inernews.online\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/12683\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/inernews.online\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/media\/12684"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/inernews.online\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fmedia&parent=12683"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/inernews.online\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcategories&post=12683"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/inernews.online\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Ftags&post=12683"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}