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Netanyahu pays condolences to Abbas for his brother's death

Xinhua, July 22, 2016 Adjust font size:

The Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu spoke on the phone with Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas on Friday to pay grief for the death of latter's brother, official Palestinian news agency WAFA reported.

Omar Abbas, the president's brother, died in Qatar on Thursday, according to reports.

It is the first telephone conversation between the two in more than one year, and Netanyahu called to pay condolences to Abbas only, WAFA reported.

Israeli Radio reported that Abbas received another condolence through telephone from head of the Israeli opposition Tzipi Livni.

The last telephone conversation between Abbas and Netanyahu was in July, 2015 when Netanyahu urged Abbas to help ending up a flaming wave of violence erupted in the West Bank and Jerusalem between Israel and the Palestinians.

Abbas and Netanyahu last met in a brief meeting in November 2015 during the climate conference held in Paris.

The Israeli-Palestinian relations had declined and deteriorated since the U.S.-sponsored direct bilateral peace negotiations that lasted for nine months collapsed in April 2014. Endit