Israel forced to release tax, customs revenue

Occupied Jerusalem: Israel will resume the transfer of tax and customs revenues that it collects on behalf of the Palestinian National Authority (PNA), ending a political standoff that was threatening to plunge the western-backed PNA into financial crisis.

The decision to unblock the transfer of some $100 million (Dh367.23 million) came after intense diplomatic pressure from western governments. Diplomats from Europe and the US argued that Israel had no right to withhold funds owed to the PNA — and that its move was posing a risk to political stability in the West Bank.

Strong-arm tactics

Israel halted the payments earlier this month, in response to the national unity agreement signed by the Hamas resistance movement and the Fatah party of Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas.

Israeli finance minister Yuval Steinitz, however, held out a thinly veiled threat on Sunday night. "Israel reserves the right to stop the transfer of revenues once again if in the next few months Hamas will become part of the Palestinian government."

— Financial Times