Israel has transferred 435 million shekels ($116 million) in withheld tax revenues to the Palestinian Authority, the Israeli and Palestinian finance ministries said, in the first such transfer since April.
Israel collects taxes on goods passing through it to the West Bank on behalf of the Palestinian Authority, and transfers the revenues to Ramallah under a long-standing arrangement between the two sides.
Israeli Finance Minister Bezalel Smotrich has been withholding funds for administrative spending in Gaza since October 7. Israel also deducts money for electricity, water and the cost of treating Palestinians in Israeli hospitals.
less than taxes
Palestinian officials say the amount Israel transferred is far less than the taxes it collects each month, even after those deductions. Smotrich, a far-right politician, opposes sending the money to the Palestinian Authority, which uses it to pay public sector salaries. The PA currently pays only 50 to 60 percent of salaries.
Israel deducts money equivalent to the total so-called martyrs’ allowances paid by the Palestinian Authority to the families of those killed or imprisoned by Israel.
Smotrich last week agreed to transfer the funds this month after receiving concessions from the Israeli government on sanctions on Palestinian Authority officials and the legalization of five Israeli settlements in the West Bank.
The Palestinian Authority said in a statement after its government meeting yesterday that its contacts and international pressure led to Israel transferring these funds.
It added that it would push to recover more than 6 billion shekels ($1.6 billion) of withheld funds to meet its financial obligations.
