JERUSALEM — Israel and the Palestinian government of President Mahmoud Abbas have resumed security talks after a long break, both sides said yesterday, a new sign of co-operation between Israel and Palestinian moderates since the Hamas takeover of Gaza.In parallel crackdowns on the militant Islamic Hamas, security forces loyal to Abbas have taken dozens into custody and Israel has also made arrests, underlining their common interest in preventing a Hamas takeover of the West Bank.

Israeli and Palestinian security officials met in an undisclosed location on Monday to “talk about how to move forward with security co-operation,” Miri Eisin, a spokeswoman for Israeli Prime Minister Ehud Olmert, told The Associated Press. Eisin characterised the renewed talks as a first step and said the sides were not exchanging names of wanted militants or co-ordinating arrests.

Israeli security officials played down the development, saying meetings between the two sides had continued after Hamas took control of the Palestinian government in March last year. The officials, speaking on condition of anonymity due to security rules, said the recent meetings were on the same level as the previous ones — area commanders.

Palestinian officials said it was the latest in a series of contacts in recent weeks. The Palestinians asked Israel to ease restrictions on movement within the West Bank and to stop going after gunmen loyal to Abbas, but Israel gave no assurances, the officials said, speaking on condition of anonymity because of the sensitivity of the subject.

Sami Abu Zuhri, a Hamas spokesman in Gaza, accused Abbas of being an Israeli collaborator. The meetings, Abu Zuhri said, “render the (Palestinian) security agencies tools in the hands of Israeli intelligence.”

Abbas expelled Hamas from the Palestinian government after its Gaza take-over. Israel and the West responded by renewing ties with the new, more moderate Palestinian government, ending a punishing aid boycott.

Israelis and Palestinians held similar security contacts in the 1990s, under terms of interim peace accords, but they were cut off after Israeli-Palestinian violence erupted in late 2000. They resumed sporadically in the years that followed.

Hamas is considered a terrorist group by Israel, the US and the European Union. It rejects the existence of the Jewish state and has been responsible for killing hundreds of Israelis in suicide bombings and other attacks.

On Monday morning, Israel’s Shin Bet security service announced it had arrested 11 Hamas militants in Jerusalem over a period of months, charging them with channelling funds from abroad and laying the groundwork for a “pool” of militant recruits.

That afternoon, pro-Fatah Palestinian security officers arrested four more Hamas activists, including a former lawmaker, in the West Bank city of Nablus. The lawmaker was released, but dozens of Hamas militants remain detained by forces loyal to Abbas in the West Bank, officials said.

“All of our efforts now are to prevent Hamas from carrying out another military coup in the West Bank,” said Col. Maher Dwaikat, head of the Fatah-linked Palestinian Preventive Security in the West Bank town of Ramallah.

But Israel’s interests and those of Abbas’ government don’t entirely coincide. Israel has continued pursuing Fatah gunmen, who nominally owe loyalty to Abbas, despite protests from Palestinian officials.