Palestinian
President Mahmoud Abbas has reached an agreement with Israel. According to the
deal, tax revenues collected by Israel for the Palestinians will be transferred
after a three-month freeze.
Deutsche Welle, 18 April 2015
"There
is an agreement, the money will be sent in full," Palestinian President
Mahmoud Abbas (photo) confirmed on Saturday. According to the Palestinian prime
minister, Rami Hamdallah, the taxes collected and frozen by Israel for the
Palestinian Authority over a period of three months amounted to almost half a
billion US-dollars (roughly 463 million euros).
No further
details were provided about the negotiations.
Israeli
media reported that the transfer would take place on Monday.
Israel
froze the tax transfers in January, after the Palestinians applied to join the
International Criminal Court (ICC). The Palestinian Authority formally joined
the ICC on April 1.
At the
beginning of April, Israel agreed to release the funds after deducting debts
due for electricity, water and medical services. The Palestinians rejected the
proposal and insisted on full payment.
Israel
typically collects taxes and customs on behalf of the Palestinians and
transfers the sums. They account for 70 percent of the Palestinian Authority's
revenue.
In the
past, transfer freezes have been imposed many times, but they have rarely
lasted more than one or two months. An exception occurred in 2006, when the
Islamist movement Hamas won a landslide victory in Palestinian legislative
elections and Israel withheld the funds for six months.
das/kms (AP, AFP)
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