Palestinians officials have confirmed that security coordination between Israel and the Palestinian Authority (PA) has resumed in a gradual manner.

The decision was made during a meeting between PA chairman Mahmoud Abbas and Commander of the General Intelligence Service Maj. Gen. Majed Faraj, a high-ranking Palestinian security official told Israel Hayom.

A senior PA official from Abbas’s office confirmed the decision, which included the renewal of economic cooperation, but noted that security coordination would be reinstated gradually and on the basis of developments on the ground.

Abbas had suspended security coordination in protest at the installation of metal detectors at entrances to the Temple Mount after the 14 July terrorist attack, in which two Israeli policemen guarding the site were killed. The installation sparked two weeks of widespread violent protests and condemnation from the Muslim world.

The PA official also praised Israeli security services and the IDF for their handling of the mounting tensions over the holy site and expressed hope that the two sides were on the way to resuming working ties.

Israel and the PA consider security coordination critical to maintaining security and preventing terrorist attacks in the West Bank. Even during the temporary freeze, the PA continued to make arrests of Hamas members across the West Bank.

Also over the weekend, Abbas was hospitalised due to “‎exhaustion he has suffered as a result of the huge effort of the past two weeks,” according to‎ Palestinian sources.

Abbas cut short his trip to China last week in order to hold “emergency meetings around the clock for nine days on the issue of the Aqsa crisis, and that weighed heavily on him”.

‎Abbas is 82 and underwent minor heart surgery last year.

(via BICOM)

[Photo: BICOM ]