Israel holds tax transfer to Palestinian National Authority
Jerusalem, Israel (AHN) – Israel’s finance ministry on Sunday announced it will freeze the transfer of $88 million in tax collections to the Palestinian National Authority to prevent the money from being used by Hamas.
The suspension was in response to the reconciliation of Fatah and Hamas and the agreement of the two former rival parties to form a unity government that will rule the Palestinian territories of Gaza and the West Bank.
The tax, which Israel collects on behalf of the PNA, was scheduled to be remitted this week to Fatah in Ramallah, the administrative capital of PNA. But Finance Minister Yuval Steinitz said there should first be an assurance that the funds will not fall into the hands of Hamas, which Jerusalem regard as an Iran-backed terrorist organization bent on destroying Israel.
The Fatah accused Israel of meddling in the internal affairs of PNA.
It was not the first time that Israel held the transfer of funds to the PNA. In 2006, a similar suspension was imposed when Hamas won parliamentary elections.
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