Israel’s Defense Minister Benny Gantz met again with Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas. A spokeswoman for the defense minister said on Wednesday that the conversation “dealt with a number of security and civil issues”. According to Israeli media reports, Gantz received the 86-year-old Abbas on Tuesday evening at his home in Rosh Haajin, east of Tel Aviv. The two politicians had already met in the West Bank in August. It is the Palestinian President's first official visit to Israel in ten years.
In the new conversation, Gantz Abbas reportedly informed him of his intention to “advance confidence-building measures in the economic and civil areas”.
Both sides have a common interest in deepening security cooperation, ensuring regional security and preventing terror and violence.
Following the conversation, according to the ministry, Gantz recognized, among other things, the status of 6000 Palestinians in the West Bank on a humanitarian basis and of 3500 Palestinians in the Gaza Strip.
The transfer of the equivalent of around 28 million euros in taxes to the Palestinian Authority, which Israel had withheld, should therefore be promoted.
In addition, another 500 business people received entry permits into Israel with their cars, it said.
In the West Bank and East Jerusalem there have been several attacks by Palestinians on Israelis in recent weeks, some of them fatal.
There are also increasing reports of violent attacks by Israeli settlers against Palestinian residents.
The US-mediated peace talks on both sides have been idle since 2014.
After the change of power in the United States at the beginning of the year, Abbas expressed his willingness to resume the Middle East peace process with the goal of an independent Palestinian state.
However, a restart is considered very unlikely.
Israeli Prime Minister Naftali Bennett of the far-right Jamina party rejects the establishment of a Palestinian state.
However, he wants to reduce conflicts and improve living conditions in the West Bank.