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Eugene

(62,629 posts)
Wed Dec 2, 2020, 06:39 AM Dec 2020

Israel hands over $1 billion in Palestinian tax backlog in sign of warming ties

Source: Reuters

EMERGING MARKETS
DECEMBER 2, 2020 5:17 AM UPDATED 23 MINUTES AGO

Israel hands over $1 billion in Palestinian tax backlog in sign of warming ties

RAMALLAH, West Bank (Reuters) - Israel handed over a backlog of billions of shekels in tax money to the Palestinian Authority on Wednesday, both sides said, in another sign of warming ties between the sides after the U.S. presidential election victory of Joe Biden.

The taxes, managed by Israel under interim peace accords from the 1990s and usually handed over monthly, make up more than half of the budget of the Palestinian Authority (PA), whose economy has been hard hit by the coronavirus pandemic.

The 3.77 billion shekels ($1.14 billion) transfer is the first since June, when the Palestinians snubbed the handover due to Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu’s plans, currently suspended, to annex parts of the occupied West Bank.

The Palestinians also rejected the cash several times in 2019 after Israel trimmed the sum in retaliation for funds going to the families of jailed or killed militants. It usually amounts to about $190 million a month.

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Read more: https://www.reuters.com/article/us-israel-palestinians-tax/israel-hands-over-1-billion-in-palestinian-tax-backlog-in-sign-of-warming-ties-idUSKBN28C1IL
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