On Sunday, Palestinian Civil Affairs Minister Hussein Al-Sheikh stated that he met with Israeli Foreign Minister Yair Lapid, a first between Israel’s current foreign minister and a Palestinian official.
“Israeli Foreign Minister Yair Lapid and I met this evening and discussed a number of political and bilateral issues,” Hussein Al-Sheikh tweeted.
He said, without mentioning the location of their meeting, “I have highlighted the need for a political horizon between the two parties that is based on international legitimacy.”
There was no official response from Israel’s foreign ministry regarding the meeting.
Israeli Defense Minister Benny Gantz met with Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas in late December for the first time since 2010.
Israel’s defense ministry announced “confidence-building measures” at the time. As part of this agreement, Israel paid the Palestinian Authority $32 million in advance for taxes it collects on behalf of the Palestinian Authority.
There had been no official talks between Israeli Prime Minister Naftali Bennett’s government and the Palestinian Authority for several years until August, when Gantz met with Abbas at his headquarters in Ramallah.
