Palestinian Authority Chairman Mahmoud Abbas said on Thursday officials from the Islamist group Hamas were holding meetings with Israel to end the blockade of Gaza and ease access for goods and people.
Israel denied the meetings had taken place, saying there was a policy of
avoiding contact with Hamas.
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Asked by Al-Arabiya television if he was aware of such meetings, Abbas
said: "There are meetings taking place between Hamas and Israel, there were meetings held on Erez (crossing point) and there are ongoing meetings in other places."
Abbas, speaking in the Jordanian capital Amman after talks with King Abdullah, gave no further details of the Gaza discussions.
Defense Ministry Official Shlomo Dror said: "This is absolutely untrue. We do not have any meetings with Hamas. Indeed, there is a strict policy of avoiding all contacts with Hamas."
"The last meeting we held with Palestinians at Erez was with businesspeople who have no connections to Hamas. These were people known to us.
"We don't have security information on every single person. If we find out someone is from Hamas, we have nothing to do with him," he added.
Hamas seized control of the enclave in June after fighting with Abbas's
security forces. Israel declared Gaza an "enemy entity" in September as the Islamist movement refused to halt firing makeshift rockets into Israel.
Israel has closed the Gaza border to everything but humanitarian supplies since Hamas routed Abbas's forces.
8 low-ranking PA officers on trial for their role in Gaza takeover
Eight-lower ranking Palestinian security officers were tried Thursday for abandoning their posts during the Hamas takeover of Gaza, prompting defense complaints that they were being turned into scapegoats
for senior officials responsible for the debacle.
It was the first trial stemming from the week of fighting in June, in which the Islamic militant Hamas routed the forces loyal to moderate Abbas, the head of Fatah.
Many Fatah loyalists, including security officers and leading politicians, fled Gaza.
Those who escaped first and left low-level officers uncovered are enjoying their freedom in Europe and Egypt while those low officers are on trial, said defense lawyer Abdel Karim Hamad.
The lawyer did not refer to these leaders by name. However, former Gaza
strongman Mohammed Dahlan is currently in Europe, and Abbas' top security
official in Gaza, Rashid Abu Shbak, lives in Egypt. Several other senior
officers now live in the West Bank city of Ramallah.
The most senior of those standing trial Thursday was a colonel. A verdict by a military court in the West Bank town of Jericho was expected later in the day. If convicted, they face life in prison.
Hamad said the proceedings amounted to a show trial and accused the
Palestinian Authority of deflecting its responsibility.
After the Gaza takeover, Abbas had appointed a committee to investigate the defeat of his security forces. It was not clear whether others would be charged.
Hamas granted amnesty to Fatah fighters after its takeover. Still, several Fatah activists were killed in the aftermath.
Initially, Israel allowed about 50 senior Fatah officials to flee to the West Bank after the takeover. Scores of other officials fled to Egypt, hoping to reach the West Bank through Jordan.
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