Central Intelligence Agency Director William Burns met with Palestinian Authority leader Mahmoud Abbas and Palestinian intelligence chief Majid Faraj Thursday, the Hezbollah-affiliated Al-Akhbar newspaper reports.
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The meeting was prompted by a report by United States diplomat Hady Amr, who visited Ramallah several weeks prior and alerted Burns of the PA's severe economic crisis.
Besides discussing ways of improving the authority's economic situation, the three discussed the resumption of the peace process between Palestinians and Israel, according to anonymous sources cited by the paper.
The officials also spoke of ways to improve the security coordination between Ramallah and Washington, stop Abbas' rival Hamas from taking over the PA leadership, and prevent another intifada.
Al-Akhbar also reported on Thursday that following a faction meeting, Hamas decided it would take violent means against Israel unless it allowed Qatar to transfer $30 million to the Gaza Strip.
Hamas leader Yahya Sinwar met on Sunday with United Nations Middle East coordinator Tor Wennesland to discuss the matter. The Gazan commander briefed reporters on the failure of the talks with the UN envoy and accused Israel of extortion, urging Palestinians to resist.
Israel is concerned that the resumption of Qatari payments could enable the terrorist organization to rebuild its military capabilities expended during the latest round of violence between Hamas and Israel.
One suggested compromise includes using the money to directly fund UN projects in Gaza. The issue is supposed to be on the agenda of next week's meeting in Cairo between Israeli and Egyptian officials.
i24NEWS contributed to this report.
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