Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas. Reuters
Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas. Reuters
Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas. Reuters
Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas. Reuters

Palestinian President Abbas travels to Israel to meet defence minister


Rosie Scammell
  • English
  • Arabic

Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas made a rare visit to Israel on Tuesday for talks with Defence Minister Benny Gantz.

The two discussed economic, civilian and security matters, the defence minister said.

“[We] emphasised the importance of deepening security co-ordination and preventing terror and violence – for the well-being of both Israelis and Palestinians,” Mr Gantz said.

After the talks, the Defence Ministry announced plans to transfer 100 million shekels ($32 million) in tax revenue collected by Israel on the behalf of Palestinian authorities.

Israel will also register 6,000 undocumented residents in the occupied West Bank and a further 3,500 in Gaza, the ministry said.

There are tens of thousands such residents, according to Israeli NGO HaMoked, many of whom moved for family reasons and have been at risk of deportation for years.

Israel will also issue hundreds of permits more for Palestinian businessmen from the West Bank to work in the country.

New permits and paperwork were also announced in August after Mr Abbas hosted Mr Gantz in Ramallah, the seat of the Palestinian Authority in the West Bank.

A senior Palestinian official said the latest discussions dealt with increased tension in the territory, related to Israeli settlers, as well as economic and humanitarian affairs.

Hussein Al Sheikh, the Palestinian Authority's head of civil affairs, said the meeting also addressed "the importance of creating a political horizon".

Tuesday’s talks were the first time since 2010 that Mr Abbas has travelled to Israel for a meeting with officials, Israeli media reported.

He also made a trip to attend the 2016 funeral of former Israeli leader Shimon Peres.

Mr Abbas, 86, has held power since 2005 and this year indefinitely postponed Palestinian elections.

His meeting with Mr Gantz was condemned as a provocation by Hamas, the militant group that rules Gaza.

“It again shows the great decline of this authority and its president,” Hamas said.

The talks were also criticised by Israeli opposition party Likud, led by former premier Benjamin Netanyahu, which accused the government of being “dangerous for Israel”.

The Palestinian Authority, which has limited self-rule in the West Bank, co-operates regularly with Israel on security and civilian matters.

Last year, Mr Abbas halted such co-operation for six months because of Israeli plans to annex parts of the West Bank that it has occupied since the 1967 Arab-Israeli war.

The proposal has since been scrapped and a new Israeli administration came into office in June.

Mr Gantz, a former military chief, was appointed defence minister last year and retained the post after elections.

Israel’s government is a broad coalition that includes an Arab party for the first time, although right-wing Prime Minister Naftali Bennett is opposed to Palestinian statehood.

The administration is not expected to advance Palestinian-Israeli peace talks, which stalled more than a decade ago.

US State Department spokesman Ned Price said Washington was "very pleased" Mr Gantz had hosted Mr Abbas.

Scores

Bournemouth 0-4 Liverpool
Arsenal 1-0 Huddersfield Town
Burnley 1-0 Brighton
Manchester United 4-1 Fulham
West Ham 3-2 Crystal Palace

Saturday fixtures:
Chelsea v Manchester City, 9.30pm (UAE)
Leicester City v Tottenham Hotspur, 11.45pm (UAE)

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If you go:
The flights: Etihad, Emirates, British Airways and Virgin all fly from the UAE to London from Dh2,700 return, including taxes
The tours: The Tour for Muggles usually runs several times a day, lasts about two-and-a-half hours and costs £14 (Dh67)
Harry Potter and the Cursed Child is on now at the Palace Theatre. Tickets need booking significantly in advance
Entrance to the Harry Potter exhibition at the House of MinaLima is free
The hotel: The grand, 1909-built Strand Palace Hotel is in a handy location near the Theatre District and several of the key Harry Potter filming and inspiration sites. The family rooms are spacious, with sofa beds that can accommodate children, and wooden shutters that keep out the light at night. Rooms cost from £170 (Dh808).

The Details

Kabir Singh

Produced by: Cinestaan Studios, T-Series

Directed by: Sandeep Reddy Vanga

Starring: Shahid Kapoor, Kiara Advani, Suresh Oberoi, Soham Majumdar, Arjun Pahwa

Rating: 2.5/5 

LA LIGA FIXTURES

Friday

Granada v Real Betis (9.30pm)

Valencia v Levante (midnight)

Saturday

Espanyol v Alaves (4pm)

Celta Vigo v Villarreal (7pm)

Leganes v Real Valladolid (9.30pm)

Mallorca v Barcelona (midnight)

Sunday

Atletic Bilbao v Atletico Madrid (4pm)

Real Madrid v Eibar (9.30pm)

Real Sociedad v Osasuna (midnight)

Our legal consultant

Name: Dr Hassan Mohsen Elhais

Position: legal consultant with Al Rowaad Advocates and Legal Consultants.

HAEMOGLOBIN DISORDERS EXPLAINED

Thalassaemia is part of a family of genetic conditions affecting the blood known as haemoglobin disorders.

Haemoglobin is a substance in the red blood cells that carries oxygen and a lack of it triggers anemia, leaving patients very weak, short of breath and pale.

The most severe type of the condition is typically inherited when both parents are carriers. Those patients often require regular blood transfusions - about 450 of the UAE's 2,000 thalassaemia patients - though frequent transfusions can lead to too much iron in the body and heart and liver problems.

The condition mainly affects people of Mediterranean, South Asian, South-East Asian and Middle Eastern origin. Saudi Arabia recorded 45,892 cases of carriers between 2004 and 2014.

A World Health Organisation study estimated that globally there are at least 950,000 'new carrier couples' every year and annually there are 1.33 million at-risk pregnancies.

THE SPECS

Engine: 2.0-litre 4-cylinder turbo

Power: 275hp at 6,600rpm

Torque: 353Nm from 1,450-4,700rpm

Transmission: 8-speed dual-clutch auto

Top speed: 250kph

Fuel consumption: 6.8L/100km

On sale: Now

Price: Dh146,999

23-man shortlist for next six Hall of Fame inductees

Tony Adams, David Beckham, Dennis Bergkamp, Sol Campbell, Eric Cantona, Andrew Cole, Ashley Cole, Didier Drogba, Les Ferdinand, Rio Ferdinand, Robbie Fowler, Steven Gerrard, Roy Keane, Frank Lampard, Matt Le Tissier, Michael Owen, Peter Schmeichel, Paul Scholes, John Terry, Robin van Persie, Nemanja Vidic, Patrick Viera, Ian Wright.

UPI facts

More than 2.2 million Indian tourists arrived in UAE in 2023
More than 3.5 million Indians reside in UAE
Indian tourists can make purchases in UAE using rupee accounts in India through QR-code-based UPI real-time payment systems
Indian residents in UAE can use their non-resident NRO and NRE accounts held in Indian banks linked to a UAE mobile number for UPI transactions

Updated: December 29, 2021, 10:33 PM`