Israeli hurt near Gaza border hours after Gantz meets Abbas

An Israeli citizen was hurt in a shooting attack on the Gaza border on Wednesday, hours after a rare visit to Israel by Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas drew condemnation from Hamas.

The Israeli military said it responded to the shooting with tank fire, targeting Hamas posts in the northern Gaza Strip.

Gaza health officials said three Palestinian farmers were wounded.

Abbas visited Benny Gantz, the Israeli defence minister, at his home late on Tuesday.

It was the first visit by the Palestinian leader to Israel in over a decade, although there appeared to be few prospects of a resumption of peace talks.

Gantz said the two of them had “discussed the implementation of economic and civilian measures, and emphasised the importance of deepening security coordination and preventing terror and violence – for the well-being of both Israelis and Palestinians.”

One Palestinian minister described the meeting as “serious and bold” and “the last chance before the explosion and finding ourselves at a dead end.”

Israeli media reported Gantz had agreed to provide 100 million shekels (£23.9 million) from the taxes collected from Palestinian residents by Israeli authorities, as well as residency rights to several thousand people living in the West Bank and Gaza who do not have legal status.