Israel to transfer tax funds to PA, minus money for Gaza

Ministers in the high-level security cabinet voted to transfer tax funds it had collected for the Palestinian Authority to Ramallah, but deducted the money earmarked for the Gaza Strip, the Prime Minister’s Office announces.

“Israel is cutting off all contact with Gaza,” says the PMO. “There will be no more Palestinian workers from Gaza and the workers who were in Israel on the day the war broke out will be returned to Gaza.”

According to Kan 11 correspondent Elior Levy, the withheld sum is around NIS 100 million.

The US has been urging Israel to transfer the money to the PA. The subject sparked intense debate in the cabinet.

In the end, Army Radio reports, Finance Minister Bezalel Smotrich abstained, National Security Minister Itamar Ben Gvir opposed, and the rest of the cabinet supported the transfer of funds.