The Israeli Prime Minister, Ariel Sharon, has lifted a ban on contacts with Palestinian officials.
The lifting of the ban came after the new President, Mahmoud Abbas, ordered his security forces in Gaza to halt militant attacks on Israelis.
The ban was imposed last week after a suicide attack in the Gaza Strip.
Security officials from the two sides met at a checkpoint between northern Gaza and Israel last night to discuss the Gaza deployment and halting the violence.
Meanwhile, it is reported that Israel has agreed to reopen the Rafah border crossing between the Gaza Strip and Egypt from tomorrow after a six-week closure.
It was shut following an attack by Palestinian militants on an army post in Rafah which left five Israeli soldiers dead.
