Israeli Defense Minister Benny Gantz met Palestinian Authority President Mahmoud Abbas in Ramallah, in the occupied West Bank, the first meeting at this level since Israeli Prime Minister Naftali Bennett took office in June.

Benny Gantz traveled to Ramallah, the seat of the Palestinian Authority, on Sunday for talks focusing on security and the economy with the Palestinian leader, official sources said on Monday.

This meeting took place a few hours after Naftali Bennett returned from the United States where he met US President Joe Biden.

Continuation of dialogue

Benny Gantz, who heads a centrist party in the Israeli coalition government, told Mahmoud Abbas that “Israel is seeking action to strengthen the economy of the Palestinian Authority.

They also discussed ways to improve security and the economic situation in the West Bank and Gaza Strip, ”a statement from the Israeli Defense Ministry said.

"They agreed to continue the dialogue," added the text.

The meeting took place in the presence of the Israeli official of the military branch in charge of Civil Affairs in the Palestinian Territories, Ghasan Alyan, a senior official of the Palestinian Authority, Hussein Al Sheikh, and the head of the Palestinian intelligence services, Majid. Faraj.

Hussein Al Sheikh confirmed this meeting on Twitter, specifying that Mahmoud Abbas and Benny Gantz had had a tête-à-tête without the other members of the delegation.

Deterioration of relationships

Relations between Israel and the Palestinian Authority have deteriorated in recent years. Former Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu, in power between 2009 and 2021, and despised by the Palestinians, made no substantial effort to resolve the Israeli-Palestinian conflict, allowing the continued expansion of Jewish settlements in the West Bank, considered as illegal under international law.

His successor, Naftali Bennett, is a radical nationalist opposed to the creation of a Palestinian state and a former leader of a pressure group of Jewish settlers.

His cabinet made it clear that his government, made up of parties ranging from the far left to the nationalist right, had no intention of starting new peace talks with the Palestinians.

But senior Israeli officials have signaled his government's intention to strengthen the Palestinian Authority in the face of ruling Islamists in the Gaza Strip.

Nearly 260 dead in May

Israel and Hamas, ruling Gaza, waged an eleven-day war in May, in which 260 Palestinians were killed by Israeli strikes on Gaza, including fighters, according to local authorities.

In Israel, rocket fire from Gaza killed 13 people, including a soldier, according to police and military.

Mahmoud Abbas was also challenged by hundreds of protesters after the death of a human rights activist.

The Palestinian Authority, padlocked by President Mahmoud Abbas, 86, whose term was due to end in 2009, wields limited powers over around 40% of the West Bank.

Israel, which controls all access, administers the rest of this territory as well as the settlements there.

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