Palestine says to pursue Israeli 'piracy' of tax money

By Qais Abu Samra

RAMALLAH (AA) – The Palestinian government will form a legal team to pursue the Israeli "piracy" of Palestinian funds, Prime Minister Mohammed Shtayyeh said Monday.

The team "will pursue Israeli piracy of the tax money [collected] at crossings, deducted from workers' wages or cut from electricity, water and sewage bills," he told a weekly cabinet meeting in the West Bank city of Ramallah.

Since the 1990s, Israel has been collecting around $175 million each month in taxes on Palestinian imports and exports on behalf of the Ramallah-based Palestinian Authority (PA), for which tax revenue represents the main source of income.

Since February, Israel has deducted around $11 million a month on the claim that this amount is being paid out by the PA each month to the families of Palestinians imprisoned by Israel for staging attacks against Israeli targets.

The PA has been facing a financial crisis since Israel's decision to cut off that amount of money.

The Palestinian premier reiterated his government's refusal to receive "deducted" tax payments from Israel.

Meanwhile, Shtayyeh pointed out that the Palestinian government has received a first batch of financial assistance and loans pledged by Qatar.

In May, Qatar announced a $480 million in financial aid and loans to Palestine, including $50 million in grants, $250 million in loans and $180 million in humanitarian assistance to the blockaded Gaza Strip.