(Jerusalem) Israeli Foreign Minister Yair Lapid spoke with Palestinian Civil Affairs Minister Hussein al-Sheikh on Sunday evening, the latter said on Twitter, marking Lapid’s first known official meeting with a Palestinian leader. .
Posted at 4:24 p.m.
“I met the Israeli foreign minister this evening and we discussed various political issues and bilateral relations,” said Hussein al-Sheikh, without specifying where the meeting took place.
Questioned by AFP, the Israeli Ministry of Foreign Affairs for its part declined any comment without denying the holding of the meeting.
At the end of December, Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas met with Israeli Defense Minister Benny Gantz during a visit to Israel. It was the first time since 2010 that Mr. Abbas had traveled to the Jewish state for an official meeting with a member of the Israeli government.
In the wake of the coming to power last June of the coalition government led by Naftali Bennett, Israeli ministers – including Mr. Gantz – had however visited Mahmoud Abbas in Ramallah, seat of the Palestinian Authority, in the occupied West Bank .
In his tweet on Sunday, Hussein al-Sheikh added that he “highlighted the need for a political horizon between the two parties, based on international law”, with particular reference to the UN resolutions on the Israeli-Palestinian conflict. .
After Abbas’ December visit to Israel, the Jewish state agreed to a series of “confidence-building measures” with the Palestinian Authority, such as granting 600 additional permits allowing Palestinian businessmen to visit in Israel, and the regularization of 6,000 Palestinians living in an area of the West Bank under Israeli control.