Abbas and Hamas Chief Hold Rare Meeting

Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas. Reuters
Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas. Reuters
TT

Abbas and Hamas Chief Hold Rare Meeting

Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas. Reuters
Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas. Reuters

Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas and Hamas leader Ismail Haniyeh met publicly for the first time in over five years, on the sidelines of Algerian independence anniversary celebrations.

Algeria's state broadcaster reported late Tuesday that representatives of the Palestinian Authority and Hamas movement also attended this meeting, which it called "historic".

The pair, who officially last met face-to-face in Doha in October 2016, were brought together in a meeting with Algerian President Abdelmadjid Tebboune, whose country marked the 60th anniversary of independence from France.

Abbas' secular Fatah party, which dominates the Palestinian Authority that rules the Israeli-occupied West Bank, has been at loggerheads with Hamas since elections in 2007, when the Islamists took control of Gaza.

Tebboune and Abbas also signed a document to name a street "Algeria" in the West Bank city of Ramallah, AFP reported.

As well as Abbas and Haniyeh, Tebboune on Tuesday hosted several foreign dignitaries, who watched a huge military parade to mark independence in 1962 when Algeria broke free from 132 years of French occupation.



Netanyahu Offers $5 Million Reward to Any Palestinians Who Free Israeli Hostages

19 November 2024, Palestinian Territories, -: Israeli Prime Minister of Israel Benjamin Netanyahu visits Netzarim Corridor in the Gaza Strip. Photo: Ma'ayan Toaf/GPO/dpa
19 November 2024, Palestinian Territories, -: Israeli Prime Minister of Israel Benjamin Netanyahu visits Netzarim Corridor in the Gaza Strip. Photo: Ma'ayan Toaf/GPO/dpa
TT

Netanyahu Offers $5 Million Reward to Any Palestinians Who Free Israeli Hostages

19 November 2024, Palestinian Territories, -: Israeli Prime Minister of Israel Benjamin Netanyahu visits Netzarim Corridor in the Gaza Strip. Photo: Ma'ayan Toaf/GPO/dpa
19 November 2024, Palestinian Territories, -: Israeli Prime Minister of Israel Benjamin Netanyahu visits Netzarim Corridor in the Gaza Strip. Photo: Ma'ayan Toaf/GPO/dpa

Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu has offered a $5 million reward and one-way ticket out of Gaza to Palestinians who free Israeli hostages held in the territory.

Netanyahu made the offer during a tour of central Gaza on Tuesday.

Israel says Hamas continues to hold 101 hostages, roughly one-third of whom are believed to be dead. Israel has vowed to press ahead with its war, which has devastated Gaza, until all hostages are free.

“I also say to those who want to get out of this maze: Whoever brings us a hostage will find a safe way, he and his family, to get out,” Netanyahu said. “We will also give a reward of $5 million for each hostage.”

Families of the hostages have accused Netanyahu of not doing enough to bring their loved-ones home, and tens of thousands of Israelis regularly take to the streets calling on him to reach a deal.

A former aide to Netanyahu has been arrested on suspicion of leaking classified materials to foreign media over the summer in an apparent effort to scuttle a deal.

Critics accuse Netanyahu of dragging his feet because a deal would likely lead to the collapse of his hardline government and the launch of an official investigation into the government’s failures ahead of Hamas’ Oct. 7, 2023, attack.

Netanyahu rejects the criticism and says he is doing his utmost to free them.