Wednesday, December 2, 2020
Israel transfers more than 1 Billion dollars to Palestinian Government
The Minister of the Palestinian Civil Affairs Authority, Hussein al-Sheikh, confirmed that Israel has transferred more than 1 billion dollars, which constitute financial dues for taxes, to the account of the Palestinian Authority, about 2 weeks after the return of security coordination between the two sides.
The Civil Affairs minister said, "The Israeli government transfers all financial dues related to the clearing to the account of the Palestinian Authority, which amount to more than one billion dollars".
Earlier this month, the Palestinian and Israeli sides confirmed the resumption of coordination between them, after the Palestinian side received official messages confirming Israel's commitment to the agreements signed between them all. Trending : Saudi Arabia has not hesitated to defend the Palestinian Cause - Saudi Foreign Minister
At that time, the Sheikh said on his Twitter, “In light of the communications made by His Excellency the President regarding Israel's commitment to the agreements signed with us, and based on the official written and oral messages we received confirming Israel's commitment to this, the course of the relationship with Israel will return to what it was.”
- In the month of May, the Palestinians stopped coordination with Israel, with PA leader Mahmud Abbas saying it was in response to Israeli plans to occupy parts of the West Bank as per Al Arabiya report.
- Israel later put its take over plans on hold, in return for an agreement to normalize ties with the United Arab Emirates (UAE), announced in August, said the report. Similar : UAE gets Saudi Arabia's and Bahrain's approval to use its Airspace for all countries flights
- The report further said, In halting the cooperation with Israel, the PA also stopped accepting transfer of taxes, particularly customs duties, collected by Israel on its behalf.
- Earlier, an Israeli official told AFP on condition of state that the “security cabinet approved transferring the money to the PA,” without specifying the amount. See Also : 1,100 years old 24 Carats Gold coins of Islamic era found in Israel
- Palestinian prime minister Mohammed Shtayyeh said the Palestinians were “entitled” to the funds, expected to relieve pressure on a Palestinian economy in the grips of a severe budgetary crisis.
- Officials “will take everything they are owed. They have been patient for months and it's only a matter of a little more time to make everything clear,” Shtayyeh said. Read : Saudi Arabia will stick to the 2002 Arab Peace Plan
- Badly off of this income, the PA had to cut the salaries of its civil servants, at a time when the Palestinian economy had begun grappling with the impact of the novel coronavirus pandemic.
