Israel on Monday transferred 100 million dollars of Palestinian tax revenues to the Palestinian Authority, unblocking a freeze on the funds imposed after a unity deal between Fatah and Hamas. Israel's Strategic Affairs Minister Moshe Yaalon announced Monday that the fund transfers would resume.
"We have unblocked the funds because we have established that the agreement between Fatah and Hamas has had no effect, the security co-operation (between Israel and the Palestinian Authority) continues on the ground," Yaalon told Israeli public radio. But Yaalon, who also serves as a member of Israel's security cabinet, said he could not rule out the possibility that the funds would be frozen in the future.
"We will continue to verify that the money is not going into the accounts of terrorist organisations. If we believe that is the case, we will stop the transfers again," he said. Palestinian Authority treasurer-general Yusef al-Zumar confirmed the transfers had resumed and that 352 million Israeli shekels (70 million euros, 100 million dollars) had been received so far.
Abdel Jabbar Salem, in charge of salaries at the Palestinian finance ministry, told Palestinian state news agency WAFA he would be able to start paying government employees their salaries straight away now that the funds had been transferred. Israel announced on May 1 that it would delay the transfer of the funds to the Palestinian Authority, in the wake of a surprise unity deal between the rival Palestinian movements Fatah and Hamas.
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