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RAMALLAH/JERUSALEM, Sept. 29 (Xinhua) -- Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas will attend the funeral of Israel's former President Shimon Peres on Friday, Israeli officials said on Thursday.
A statement by the Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu's office said that he had approved a request filed earlier by Abbas' office.
Israel's Coordinator of Government Activities in the Territories Maj. Gen. Yoav Mordechai said the Palestinian leader would head a delegation of four other Palestinian officials.
Abbas's request to the Israeli side was first reported by Israeli media, and was then confirmed by Palestinian sources.
According to reports, Palestinian chief negotiator Saeb Erekat, chief of intelligence Gen. Majid Farraj will also be attending the funeral.
Abbas and other Palestinians in the West Bank and the Gaza Strip are not allowed to visit Jerusalem without Israel's permission.
Israel seized the West Bank in 1967 and has imposed restrictions since then on Palestinian entry into areas under its control.
Abbas on Wednesday praised Peres for exerting "ceaseless efforts to attain peace" until his last days.
Peres, who passed away at the age of 93, had won the Nobel Peace Prize together with both the late Palestinian leader Yasser Arafat and the late Israeli PM Yitzhak Rabin.
"Peres exerted ceaseless efforts to attain permanent peace since the Oslo agreement signed with Israel in 1993 until his last days," Abbas said in a condolence letter he sent to the Peres family, aired by the WAFA news agency.
"He was a brave partner in working toward attaining peace with the late Palestinian leader Yasser Arafat and the late Israeli PM Yitzhak Rabin," Abbas said.
In Gaza, on the other hand, Sami Abu Zuhri, spokesman for Islamic Hamas, said the movement was very happy to hear of the news of Peres's death.
Hamas, which rules the Gaza Strip, rejects the peace process and does not recognize Israel.
"We are so happy about the news of the former Israeli president's death. In fact, all Palestinians are happy about the news of Peres's death, the criminal who shed our peoples' blood," he said.
"Peres was the last founder of this entity (Israel) and we believe this is the beginning of a crack in the Israeli occupation," Abu Zuhri said.
