Norway: The Palestinian Authority received $114 million in taxes frozen by the occupation

Since Operation Al-Aqsa Flood, Israel has stopped transferring frozen tax funds allocated to the Palestinian Authority (Shutterstock)

The Norwegian government announced on Thursday that the Palestinian Authority has received 407 million shekels ($114 million) from Israel, and that it will receive more money in the coming days, after an agreement earlier this month to release frozen tax funds, Reuters reported. .

Oslo said on February 18 that it had agreed to help transfer frozen tax funds allocated to the Palestinian Authority and collected by Israel, providing vital funding for the Authority.

Norwegian Prime Minister Jonas Gahr Støre said, "These funds are absolutely necessary to prevent the collapse of the Palestinian Authority and to ensure that Palestinians have access to basic services and to pay the salaries of teachers and health workers."

He added that more transfers are expected to be made in the “coming days,” without specifying the exact timing or size of the amount.

Analysts believe that the new mechanism - transferring funds through a third party - represents “international legalization” for deducting Palestinian funds, and granting extremist ministers in the Israeli government the right to determine the fate of Palestinian funds “with international auspices and approval.”

Under interim peace agreements between Israel and the Palestinian Authority, the Israeli Ministry of Finance collects taxes on behalf of the Palestinians and makes monthly transfers to the Authority, but there are ongoing disagreements between the two sides over this arrangement.

Since Operation Al-Aqsa Flood - which was launched by the Palestinian resistance against the occupation in response to its continuing violations - Israel has decided to stop transferring these funds, considering that part of them reaches the Authority’s employees in the Gaza Strip.

Israel collects taxes on behalf of the Palestinian Authority in exchange for Palestinian imports of imported goods. Israel is supposed to transfer funds to the Authority monthly, averaging 750 to 800 million shekels (about 190 million dollars), of which 270 million shekels (about 190 million dollars) are transferred to the Gaza Strip in normal circumstances. 75 million dollars).

The US administration has repeatedly called on Israel during the past months to accelerate the transfer of tax funds to the Authority.

Source: Al Jazeera + Reuters