Israeli Defense Minister Benny Gantz and Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas met in Ramallah, the first high-level meeting between the two sides in recent years.
According to the Associated Press (AP), the meeting between Benny Gentz and Mahmoud Abbas on Sunday signaled a change in direction. Earlier, in recent years, contacts between Abbas and Israeli leaders had almost completely ended.
The meeting between Israeli and Palestinian leaders comes two days after new Israeli Prime Minister Naftali Bennett met with US President Joe Biden at the White House. During the meeting, the US president called on the Israeli prime minister to take steps to improve the lives of Palestinians. Gantz's office said it had told Mahmoud Abbas that Israel should take new steps to strengthen the Palestinian economy. Will The statement said that security issues were also discussed during the meeting and it was agreed to liaise with each other. It is believed that this was the first high-level official meeting between the two sides since 2014.
A Palestinian official, speaking on condition of anonymity, said Gentz and Abbas had also considered possible steps to improve the situation. The official said the measures include calling for an end to Israeli military operations in the occupied West Bank and for Palestinian families to reunite with their relatives in Israel and for more Palestinian workers to work in Israel.
