Israeli Foreign Minister Yair Lapid spoke Sunday night with Palestinian Civil Affairs Minister Hussein al-Sheikh, the latter said on Twitter, marking Yair Lapid's first known official meeting with a Palestinian leader.
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"
I met this evening with the Israeli Minister of Foreign Affairs 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 Mahmoud 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 Benny 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 Mahmoud Abbas' visit to Israel in December, the Jewish state approved a series of "
confidence-building measures
" with the Palestinian Authority, such as the granting of 600 additional permits allowing Palestinian businessmen to travel to Israel, and the regularization of 6,000 Palestinians living in an area of the West Bank under Israeli control.
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