Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas met on Sunday night with Israeli Defense Minister Benny Gantz in the West Bank city of Ramallah, a senior Palestinian official said.
Hussein al-Sheikh, a member of the central committee of Abbas-led Fatah party, said in a short statement that Abbas met with Gantz in Ramallah and discussed all aspects of the Israeli-Palestinian relations.
The meeting is the first of its kind since 2014, when the peace negotiations between the two sides stopped.
Gantz discussed with Abbas on resuming ties between the two sides and boosting the economy of the Palestinian Authority, an Israeli media reported.
On July 20, Gantz wrote on Twitter that he spoke with President Abbas on the phone to express “well wishes on the occasion of Eid al-Adha,” adding that “trust-building between Israel and the Palestinian Authority will benefit the economy and security of the entire region.”
The Palestinian-Israeli peace process has been stalled since April 2014, after the United States had sponsored the peace negotiations for nine months without making any tangible progress due to deep differences on borders, security, and Israeli settlement.
