Palestinian Authority President Mahmoud Abbas met Wednsday with Prime Minister Ismail Haniyeh, to discuss the need to reach a new ceasefire with Israel.
Palestinian sources said the meeting was productive even though it was unscheduled, and decided on just minutes before it took place.
| Palestinian Talks |
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| Abbas, Haniyeh meet in attempt to reach truce / Ali Waked |
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Palestinian president, prime minister fail to reach agreement on ceasefire with Israel. Members of military wings tell Ynet rocket fire will continue in spite of Abbas' efforts to halt it |
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A hint of the progress made was evident when the two agreed to appoint new personnel to the Palestinian security forces, as Hamas had demanded.
Haniyeh said he would personally announce the planned changes in the next few days.
According to Palestinian sources, Izz al-Din al-Qassam Brigades, the Hamas military wing, has abstained from firing Qassams at Israel for the last two days; and with the exception of the IDF's operation in Jabalya, there had been fewer IDF and Air Force strikes in Gaza in the last two days as well.
"We in the Palestinian government are in favor of a reciprocal and simultaneous calm ... in the West Bank and in the Gaza Strip. The ball is now in the Israeli court," said Haniyeh after the meeting.
"Hamas didn't launch any rockets, even though two of its men were killed, that shows how serious the talks are," a Palestinian source told Ynet Wednesday.
But one stray missile, said the source, can undo this calm altogether.
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