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Israel carried out air strikes in the Gaza Strip on Sunday in response to Palestinian
rocket fire into its territory, media reports emerged. The strikes come on the back of reports of six Palestinian insurgents escaping an Israeli prison.
The incident is a setback to recent hopes that both the countries would find a negotiated settlement to their disputes. Israel's defence minister held talks this month with the Palestinian president in the first high-level meeting between the two sides in years. The meeting between Benny Gantz and Mahmoud Abbas signalled a possible shift of direction after after the near-complete breakdown of communication between Abbas and Israeli leaders in recent years, under former Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu.
Netanyahu pursued a hard-line policy toward the Palestinians, backed by former US President Donald Trump who had approved pro-Israeli policies such as moving the US Embassy in Israel from Tel Aviv to contested Jerusalem. Abbas halted most contacts with the US and Israel during those years.
The Gantz-Abbas meeting came just after Israel's current prime minister, Naftali Bennett, was received at the White House by President Joe Biden. The Biden administration views Abbas as an essential player in any efforts to resume long-stalled talks on the terms of Palestinian statehood, even though Abbas is increasingly isolated an unpopular at home.
rocket fire into its territory, media reports emerged. The strikes come on the back of reports of six Palestinian insurgents escaping an Israeli prison.
The incident is a setback to recent hopes that both the countries would find a negotiated settlement to their disputes. Israel's defence minister held talks this month with the Palestinian president in the first high-level meeting between the two sides in years. The meeting between Benny Gantz and Mahmoud Abbas signalled a possible shift of direction after after the near-complete breakdown of communication between Abbas and Israeli leaders in recent years, under former Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu.
Netanyahu pursued a hard-line policy toward the Palestinians, backed by former US President Donald Trump who had approved pro-Israeli policies such as moving the US Embassy in Israel from Tel Aviv to contested Jerusalem. Abbas halted most contacts with the US and Israel during those years.
The Gantz-Abbas meeting came just after Israel's current prime minister, Naftali Bennett, was received at the White House by President Joe Biden. The Biden administration views Abbas as an essential player in any efforts to resume long-stalled talks on the terms of Palestinian statehood, even though Abbas is increasingly isolated an unpopular at home.
