Gantz and Abbas meet to find "a political solution"

Israel and Palestine stage a rapprochement through their Ministers of Defence. According to Israeli Defence Minister Benny Gantz, he has met with Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas with the aim of discussing "a political solution" to the Israeli-Palestinian conflict. 

This is the second meeting between the two ministers since Abbas received Gantz last August in Ramallah, in the West Bank territory. This time, the meeting took place at Gantz's home in Israel, according to Israeli broadcaster Kan, marking the first trip by a Palestinian president to Israel in more than a decade.

In addition to trying to find a solution to the conflict, the two discussed relevant issues related to rapprochement and closer ties in the security and economic fields. According to Fatah Central Committee member and Minister of Civil Affairs Hussein al-Sheikh, the meeting stressed "the importance of creating a political horizon that will lead to a political solution in accordance with the resolutions of international legitimacy". He also pointed out that the current situation between Palestine and Israel remains "tense", but that the meeting still managed to discuss "security, economic and humanitarian issues".

For his part, Gantz indicated to Abbas his intention to continue "strengthening confidence-building measures in the economic and civil fields". He also indicated his intention to continue to cooperate in "maintaining security stability and preventing terrorism and violence". 

A senior Israeli official said that "Gantz and Abbas agreed to take steps to calm the situation on the ground and prevent further escalation in the West Bank".

In this line, the heightened tension between the two sides has been accentuated after, according to the Organisation of Islamic Cooperation (OIC), "an escalation of attacks by extremist settlers against the Palestinian people" has taken place. In this part of the West Bank there are estimated to be around 650,000 colonists living in 164 settlements, which has led to several violent clashes between the settler population and the Palestinian inhabitants.

Following these events, the UN Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs reports that a total of 287 incidents have been recorded in the area and that, according to international law, both the West Bank and East Jerusalem are considered occupied territories, which is why they denounce the colonists settlements' construction as illegal.

Since the death of a colonist in a Palestinian attack on 16 December, there have been a total of 38 reprisal attacks carried out by settlers "with the full protection" of the military, according to the Euro-Mediterranean Human Rights Monitor.

Although the conflict is far from finding a tangible solution in the short term, this meeting between Israel and Palestine shows that there is an intention to strengthen ties and common ground in an attempt to maintain peace in a hot spot. Diplomacy, once again, is trying to build bridges through foreign policy, something that is seen as a first step towards finding peaceful solutions to an entrenched conflict that is now entering its 75th year.