
Israeli cabinet said on Sunday that Israel will withhold USD 180 million in tax revenue it collected on behalf of the Palestinian Authority (PA). This is about 7 per cent of total tax revenue of the PA. Israel said that this decision has been taken to offset stipends paid to militants and their families
Under a 2018 law, Israel calculates each year how much it believes the Palestinian Authority has paid in stipends to militants, and deducts that amount from the taxes it has collected on the Palestinians` behalf.
Taxes collected by Israel form about half of the income of the Palestinian Authority, which exercises limited self-rule in the Israeli-occupied West Bank.
Israel calls stipends for militants and their families a “pay for slay” policy that encourages violence.
Palestinians hail their jailed brethren as heroes in a struggle for an independent state and their families as deserving of support.
Qadri Abu Baker, head of prisoners affairs in the Palestine Liberation Organization, called the Israeli measure a crime of “terror and piracy.”
(With inputs from agencies)