The President of the Palestinian aurité met with the Minister of Israeli Defense, Benny Gantz, at the home of the latter. Quasi unpublished displacement in eleven years.
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The visit, exceptional, had not been announced. Tuesday, December 28, the President of the Palestinian Authority (AP), Mahmoud Abbas, went to the home of the Israeli Defense Minister Benny Gantz, located in Rosh Haayin, in the center of Israel. A virtual displacement in eleven years – with the exception of the funeral of the former Israeli Prime Minister Shimon Peres, in 2016. The two men, who had been last in August, in Ramallah, at the headquarters of the AP, in busy West Bank, spoke for more than two hours. According to the official Israeli statement, the purpose of the meeting was to discuss “security coordination and other humanitarian records”.
They exchanged gifts – we know that Mahmoud Abbas gave a bottle of olive oil to Benny Gantz – and took the time to speak head to face. The conversation focused on tensions in the West Bank, which have been accentuated in recent weeks. Mr. Abbas also evoked the fears of an eruption of violence in Jerusalem, linked to religious tensions around the esplanade of the mosques.
By leaving Mr. Gantz’s home, with his 4.4 × 4 procession, the Palestinian delegation, of which the powerful coordinator of civil affairs – privileged interlocutor of the Israelis – Hussein al-Sheikh, and the head of the Intelligence, Majed Faraj, is not emptyed. The Israelis offered an advance of 100 million Shekels (just over 28 million euros) on Palestinian tax revenues that Israel collects.
The Palestinian authority crosses indeed a profound financial crisis, due to the reduction of foreign contributions to its budget. In his luggage, she also brought entry permits to the Israeli territory for hundreds of businessmen, as well as a dozen VIP passes for PA members. Another symbolic measurement: the regularization of a dozen thousands of Palestinians and members of their families, without papers because Israel only rarely recognizes the family reunion of the Palestinians.
“The personality of Abbas disturbs “
The Palestinian factions of Fatah de Mahmoud Abbas have lived this meeting as a betrayal. “This divides the Palestinian camp and encourages the countries of the region who want to go to the normalization of relations with Israel,” Hamas spokesman, Hazem Qassem. The “Joint Resistance Office”, which brings together the different Palestinian factions invested in the armed struggle, met in an emergency, Wednesday morning. A few hours later, an elite shooter wounded by bullet an official from the Israeli Ministry of Defense at the border with Gaza. In response, Israeli artillery pounded Hamas positions, injuring three people – farmers, according to Palestinians.
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