Palestinian Authority President Mahmoud Abbas sent a condolence letter to the family of former Israeli president Shimon Peres on Wednesday following news of the veteran statesman's death.

In the letter, the president expressed his sadness and sorrow and said that Peres was a partner in making peace with the late PLO leader Yasser Arafat and late prime minister Yitzhak Rabin.

Abbas also lauded Peres for what he said were his exerted intensive efforts to make peace since the Oslo Accords until the last moment of his life.

Hamas in Gaza says Peres' death is the 'end of an era of the Israeli occupation', and that Palestinians are 'happy at the departure of this criminal'.

"Shimon Peres was the last of the generation of co-founders of the Israeli occupation and therefore, his death represents the end of an era in the history of occupation and the beginning of a...read more at Jpost