Palestinian Authority receives $114 million from Israel, Norway says

The Palestinian Authority has received 407 million shekels ($114 million) from Israel, with more funds on the way in the coming days, following an agreement earlier this month to release frozen tax funds, the Norwegian government says.

Norway on Feb. 18 said it had agreed to assist in the transfer of tax funds earmarked for the Palestinian Authority (PA) that were collected by Israel.

“This money is absolutely necessary to prevent the collapse of the Palestinian Authority, to ensure that the Palestinians receive vital services, and that teachers and health workers are paid,” Norwegian Prime Minister Jonas Gahr Stoere says.

Under interim peace accords reached in the 1990s, Israel’s Finance Ministry collects tax revenues on behalf of the PA and makes monthly transfers to Ramallah, but a dispute broke out over the payments in the wake of Hamas’s October 7 terror onslaught.

The Israeli cabinet refused to transfer the portion of the funds that Ramallah uses to pay for services and employees in Gaza, arguing that the money could reach Hamas, the terror group that runs the Strip. The roughly $75 million in revenues amounts to about a quarter of the entire monthly transfer.