Israel has approved a new payment of over $140 million to the Palestinian Authority, as well as unblocking certain funds frozen because of the Gaza war, a finance ministry official said on Thursday.
Since the beginning of the war against Hamas, far-right Israeli Finance Minister Bezalel Smotrich has withheld payments of customs and tax duties to Palestinian President Mahmud Abbas’s government.
However, Israeli officials announced on Wednesday that the government had paid 435 million shekel ($116 million) for duties collected in April and May.
A representative for the finance ministry confirmed that an additional payment of around 530 million shekels for duties collected for June had been approved.
Under a 1994 convention, Israel collects tax and customs duties for the Palestinian Authority and has sole control over the territories’ borders to Israel.
According to economists, Israel’s payments account for 60 percent of the cash-strapped authority’s revenues.
Palestinian Authority Prime Minister Mohammed Mustafa confirmed the 435 million shekel payment at a cabinet meeting on Wednesday.
Mustafa said, “The money would be used for unpaid wages for tens of thousands of Palestinian civil servants and suppliers”.
Authority workers have been living on reduced wages for months and the PA has made repeated appeals for international aid.
Mustafa went on to say, “Israel still owed the authority six billion shekels in back payments”.
For months, government workers have been surviving on reduced wages, and the PA has repeatedly requested international assistance.
Israel halted the payments following the October 7 Hamas strikes in southern Israel, with Smotrich accusing the PA of backing the Islamist operatives.
The US, the European Union, and other countries have labeled Hamas as a terrorist organization. It is distinct from the Palestine Authority.
Following a violent conflict with Abbas’ Fatah faction, Hamas assumed control of Gaza in 2007, leaving the Palestinian Authority’s power limited to Palestinian-run parts of the occupied West Bank.
According to reports, Smotrich only agreed to provide the new payments in exchange for the government’s recognition of five West Bank wildcat settlements.
In June, he directed the transfer of approximately $35 million of the funds collected on behalf of the Palestinian Authority to assist Israeli victims of terrorism.
The US government condemned the decision as extraordinarily wrongheaded.
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