Israel is withholding tax revenues it collects on behalf of the Palestinian Authority for the month of May until the PA reactivates the security coordination agreement with Tel Aviv, Palestinian officials said.
Palestinian Premier Mohammad Shtayyeh on Thursday pledged not to allow trading the release of Palestinian tax revenues withheld by Israel for political concessions, Palestinian news agency WAFA reports.
#UN Warns of New Political Crisis if #Annexation Plans Go Ahead https://t.co/AffRAfCxwT via @PalestineChron pic.twitter.com/PsRzu4yiou
— @palestinechron (@PalestineChron) June 3, 2020
“The tax revenues ]withheld by Israel[ belong to our people and are our right, but Israel wants to exchange money for politics,” Shtayyeh told UK Minister for Middle East James Cleverly during a virtual meeting.
“We will not allow exchanging the release of our funds for political and national concessions and for the resumption of coordination ]with Israel[. The question of Palestine is not that of money, but of rights, dignity and freedom,” he added.
The Darkening Sky over #Palestine: Storm Clouds or Nightfall? by Prof. Richard Falk https://t.co/t7wSC2R3ut via @PalestineChron #Resistance #IsraeliApartheid #IsraeliOccupation pic.twitter.com/2dyYRAEXeD
— @palestinechron (@PalestineChron) June 4, 2020
“Israel refused to transfer the tax revenues …. Unless we resume security coordination with it,” Milhem said in a statement, adding that the government is committed to implementing the Palestinian leadership’s decision to stop all forms of coordination with Israel.
Palestinian Authority President Mahmoud Abbas announced on May 19 that the PA is canceling all agreements with Israel and the US, as a direct response to Israel’s annexation plans.
(Palestine Chronicle, WAFA, Social Media)
