"Long time, long time," Abbas told Netanyahu and the prime minister's wife Sara, after shaking his hand before the start of the state ceremony. Welcoming Abbas, as participants recorded the encounter on their cellphones, Netanyahu said of his attendance: "It's something that I appreciate very much on behalf of our people and on behalf of us."

After that Netanyahu's wife, Sara said "I am looking forward to have you in my house".

Abbas also forwarded condolences to Peres’ family by hugging Peres daughter during the funeral.

The Palestinian resistance movement of Hamas has extremely censured Mahmoud Abbas for joining the funeral of former Israeli president Shimon Peres.

Many across the world would remember Peres as a "war criminal" especially in light of the 1996 Qana massacre. In that Israeli attack on a southern Lebanese village, at least 106 people were killed. Peres was then prime minister.

It should also be noted that under Peres’s tenure as president, two full-scale wars were launched against the Israeli-blockaded Gaza Strip, which killed more than 3,700 Palestinians in total.

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