Israel freezes taxes collected, saying it cannot be given to Hamas
Special Advisor Sullivan agrees to payment after confirming the recipient of labor costs
A high-ranking Palestinian source said on the 17th (local time) that the Palestinian Authority (PA) has agreed with the United States to resolve the issue of Israel freezing taxes collected in the Palestinian territories rather than paying them to the Palestinian government, after consultation with the United States. It was revealed to Xinhua News Agency.
An unnamed Palestinian government source said that as a condition of the agreement, the Israeli government will resume tax payments after reviewing the list of Palestinian salary recipients in the Gaza Strip and confirming that there are no Hamas members among them.
The source said the agreement was proposed by U.S. National Security Advisor Jake Sullivan after recently meeting with Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas in Ramallah, West Bank.
According to the agreement, the Israeli government will transfer to the Palestinian government all taxes, including tariffs, levied on Palestinian goods when they pass through Israeli border customs.
It was decided in accordance with the past economic agreement between Israel and the Palestine Liberation Organization (PLO) that all collected revenue, excluding the 3% commission for tax collection such as customs duties, would be passed on to Palestine.
The Israeli government recently reduced or stopped disbursing taxes collected in the Palestinian territories, pointing out that the Palestinian government gave some taxes to Hamas officials in the Gaza Strip.
The Pal government in Ramallah rejected Israel’s claims and strongly insisted that the money given to Gaza was purely for the salaries of administrative staff there.
Israel has been in charge of collecting taxes and duties on behalf of the PA in accordance with the Oslo Agreement signed in 1993. Some of it was sent by the Palestinian government to Gaza to cover administrative costs, including salaries of health and medical staff.
Even after Hamas took control of the Gaza Strip and Israel began attacking the Gaza Strip, the Palestinian Authority continued to pay government operating expenses, including salaries for health and medical personnel, to the Hamas administration.
Source: Donga
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