Four injured in Israel-Gaza border violence

Palestinian and Israeli forces exchanged gunfire on Wednesday for the first time in months. The violence followed a rare meeting in Israel between Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas and Israeli Defense Minister Benny Gantz. The Israeli military said gunfire from the Gaza Strip wounded one Israeli civilian near the border. Israeli forces responded with tank fire at multiple military positions manned by Hamas militants. Three Palestinians were also wounded. It’s unclear if they were civilians or fighters.

What was the meeting about? Gantz hosted President Abbas at his home in Israel late Tuesday—the first time Abbas had met an Israeli official inside the country in 11 years. The two discussed security coordination between Israel and the Palestinian Authority (PA). Gantz’s office said he approved “confidence-building measures,” including hundreds of new permits for Palestinian merchants and VIPs, the transfer of tax payments to the PA, and residency status for thousands of Palestinians in the West Bank and Gaza Strip. Israel’s opposition party criticized the meeting and worried that it meant the government is willing to make concessions to the PA.

Dig deeper: Read Onize Ohikere’s report in The Sift on how Palestinian prisoners escaped from an Israeli jail in September.