Palestinian Authority sources claim that Israel eavesdropped on the telephone conversation between US president Donald Trump and Palestinian Authority chairman Mahmoud Abbas last Friday.

The sources told the Palestinian site Sama that "it's obvious that Israel eavesdropped on the conversation between Trump and Abbas. Israeli politicians are discussing the conversation between them extensively." Israeli media broadcast the reports of Arab public figures and the very fact of the conversation taking place at all and used them to speculate on the implications of the call and to extrapolate its results.

The sources stated that since Israeli intelligence minister [Ze'ev Elkin] said that Trump informed Abbas of the need for direct negotiations and Science minister Ofir Akunis said that Trump had not referred to the two-state solution, it was obvious that Israeli security agencies had eavesdropped on the conversation.

"It doesn't surprise us," said the PA sources, "since the occupation controls all media channels in the 'occupied territories' and also in neighboring countries."

During the conversation, President Trump invited Abbas to Washington and stressed his commitment to the peace process between Israel and its Arab neighbors.

.