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Netanyahu and Abbas Exchange Rare Handshake at Climate Summit

Israel's prime minister and the Palestinian president, in France for the climate summit, met and shook hands for the first time in years.
Image: Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu, center left, talks with Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas
Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu, center left, talks with Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas, center right, as they wait to pose for a group photo as part of the COP21 in Le Bourget, outside Paris, on Nov. 30, 2015.Martin Bureau / Pool via AP

Israel's prime minister and the Palestinian president, in France for the climate summit, met and shook hands for the first time in years.

A photograph shows Benjamin Netanyahu and Mahmoud Abbas shaking hands and smiling on the sidelines of global climate talks outside Paris on Monday. It wasn't immediately clear if they had agreed to meet or if they spoke.

U.S. mediated peace talks between the sides collapsed early 2014 and the two leaders haven't met in years.

Their meeting came amid heightened tensions between Israelis and Palestinians. Over the past 2 months, almost daily Palestinian attacks have killed 19 Israelis while at least 97 Palestinians have been killed, including 62 said by Israel to be attackers. The rest died in clashes.