According to reports in the Israeli press, the head of the Israeli Internal Security Service (Shin Bet) secretly met Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas in Ramallah in the occupied West Bank.

According to the Israeli i24NEWS website, the meeting took place "in light of the recent events in Al-Aqsa Mosque and the security tension in the West Bank."

He added that this is the second meeting between Shin Bet chief Ronen Bar and the Palestinian president.

The website said that Ronen Bar presented to Abbas the security situation, "Hamas' attempts to destabilize the security situation in the West Bank, and to what extent this constitutes a threat to the Palestinian Authority in the event that tension moves from the Temple Mount to Palestinian cities," according to the Israeli version.

The meeting dealt with security coordination between Israel and the Palestinian Authority in Jenin in the West Bank and the "positioning of the Islamic Jihad movement there."

The "Times of Israel" website said that "the meeting comes amid efforts to restore calm amid days of violent protests and clashes between Palestinians and Israeli security forces on the Temple Mount."

According to the website, Abbas has held a series of meetings with senior Israeli officials, since Naftali Bennett became prime minister in Israel about a year ago.