Al Mayadeen English

  • Ar
  • Es
  • x
Al Mayadeen English

Slogan

  • News
    • Politics
    • Economy
    • Sports
    • Arts&Culture
    • Health
    • Miscellaneous
    • Technology
    • Environment
  • Articles
    • Opinion
    • Analysis
    • Blog
    • Features
  • Videos
    • NewsFeed
    • Video Features
    • Explainers
    • TV
    • Digital Series
  • Infographs
  • In Pictures
  • • LIVE
News
  • Politics
  • Economy
  • Sports
  • Arts&Culture
  • Health
  • Miscellaneous
  • Technology
  • Environment
Articles
  • Opinion
  • Analysis
  • Blog
  • Features
Videos
  • NewsFeed
  • Video Features
  • Explainers
  • TV
  • Digital Series
Infographs
In Pictures
  • Africa
  • Asia
  • Asia-Pacific
  • Europe
  • Latin America
  • MENA
  • Palestine
  • US & Canada
BREAKING
Israeli media reported explosions being heard in large areas of occupied Palestine after air raid sirens and air defenses were activated.
Araghchi: The Iranian delegation has sent written clarifications to the American side several times, and we have yet to receive any written response from the US envoy.
Araghchi: The defensive and missile capabilities of the Islamic Republic of Iran give strength and leverage to the negotiators.
Iranian Foreign Minister Abbas Araghchi: If the other parties were capable of destroying our nuclear facilities militarily, they wouldn’t have entered talks with us.
Araghchi: Talks mean that the other parties are unable to impose their will on Iran through military force.
An earthquake strikes the Turkish city of Konya, with aftershocks felt in Ankara.
Reuters, citing a senior Iranian official: Tehran would only ship its highly enriched uranium abroad if US sanctions were lifted "verifiably and effectively".
Reuters, citing a senior Iranian official: Iran has not received any fresh proposal from the United States to resolve a decades-long nuclear dispute.
Ansar Allah leader Sayyed Abdul Malik al-Houthi: The horrific scale of crimes committed by the Israeli enemy in the Gaza Strip clearly constitutes genocide.
Pezeshkian: We believe in negotiations, but not in threats and imposed dictates, and we will never back down from preserving Iran's dignity.

Smotrich orders withholding of $26mln of Palestinian tax funds

  • By Al Mayadeen English
  • Source: Agencies
  • 5 Aug 2024 17:27
  • 3 Shares
3 Min Read

The Israeli Finance Minister says that withholding Palestinian funds is part of a larger strategy to prevent the establishment of a Palestinian state.

Listen
  • x
  • Smotrich
    Israeli occupation Finance Minister Bezalel Smotrich speaks at the Knesset, in occupied al-Quds, on July 10, 2023. (AP)

Israeli occupation Finance Minister Bezalel Smotrich has directed the withholding of 100 million shekels ($26 million) in tax funds intended for the Palestinian Authority, stating that the money will be allocated to compensate what he calls Israeli "victims of terrorism."

In a statement released late Sunday, the Israeli Finance Ministry claimed the move was "part of measures to combat terrorism."

Smotrich accused the Palestinian Authority, which administers parts of the Israeli-occupied West Bank, of transferring the funds to the "families of terrorists," referring to Palestinians killed or detained at the hands of occupation forces for carrying out Resistance operations.

The Finance Ministry's statement noted that this was the fifth instance of withholding funds, which "Israel" collects on behalf of the Palestinian Authority.

On Monday, Smotrich indicated that withholding Palestinian funds is part of a larger strategy to prevent the establishment of a Palestinian state and "to ensure security" for Israelis, as well as increasing illegal settlement activity in the occupied West Bank.

"We are working on the ground to remove this threat (of a Palestinian state) ... by strengthening settlement through construction, ... fighting the terror funds of the Palestinian Authority and its leaders, and maintaining complete Israeli control over the area," he wrote on X.

Related News

From Qatar, Trump proposes US control of Gaza as 'freedom zone'

9 operations in a week, firm Gaza support unchanged: Sayyed al-Houthi

Following the start of the ongoing Israeli war on the Gaza Strip on October 7, "Israel" has imposed economic restrictions on the Palestinian Authority, often withholding the tax revenues.

Smotrich: Starving 2 million Gazans 'justified and moral'

In a related context, Smotrich said that he views blocking humanitarian aid to the Gaza Strip as “justified and moral,” even if it leads to the starvation of 2 million civilians, Israeli media reported.

He added, however, that the international community would not permit such an outcome.

Smotrich made these remarks at a conference in Yad Binyamin, hosted by the Israel Hayom outlet.

"We are bringing in aid because there is no choice," he said.

"We can’t, in the current global reality, manage a war. Nobody will let us cause 2 million civilians to die of hunger even though it might be justified and moral until our hostages are returned," the Israeli Minister explained.

Read more: Palestinian taxes: PA's transferred via Norway, Gaza's frozen

  • Israel
  • Palestine
  • Bezalel Smotrich
  • West Bank
  • Palestinian authority

Most Read

Trump cut off contact with Netanyahu, senior Israeli official says

Trump cut off contact with Netanyahu: Israeli media

  • US & Canada
  • 9 May 2025
A boy draped in a Palestinian flag carries a mock rocket during a weekly anti-US and anti-Israeli rally in Sanaa, Yemen, Friday, May 9, 2025 (AP)

Yemen announces hypersonic missile strike on Ben Gurion Airport

  • Politics
  • 9 May 2025
President Donald Trump, left, greets Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu at the White House, Monday, April 7, 2025, in Washington (AP)

US pressures 'Israel' for Gaza deal; Witkoff's Israeli rebuke leaked

  • US & Canada
  • 9 May 2025
Palestinians pray over bodies of people killed in the Israeli bombardment who were brought from the Shifa hospital before burying them in a mass grave in the town of Khan Younis, southern Gaza Strip, Wednesday, Nov. 22, 2023. (AP )

Gaza casualty figures mask a much bigger horror, new study shows

  • Politics
  • 11 May 2025

Coverage

All
Gaza prevails against genocide

Read Next

All
A Fly Dubai plane is parked on the tarmac at Ben Gurion International Airport in the Occupied Palestinian Territories, Sunday, Nov. 10, 2024 (AP)
Economy

Israeli tourism suffers $3bln loss amid 'unprecedented' crisis

Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu speaks during an annual ceremony in al-Quds, Occupied Palestine, April 29, 2025 (AP)
Politics

Netanyahu refuses to budge, captive talks stall: Israeli officials

Susan Sarandon joins hundreds urging BBC to release delayed Gaza film
Europe

Susan Sarandon joins call for BBC to air documentary on Gaza medics

In this photo released by the Saudi Royal Palace, Syria's interim President Ahmad al-Sharaa, left, shakes hands with President Donald Trump, centre, in Riyadh, Saudi Arabia, Wednesday, May 14, 2025 (AP)
Politics

'Israel' blindsided by Trumps' Syria sanctions lift: The Times

Al Mayadeen English

Al Mayadeen is an Arab Independent Media Satellite Channel.

All Rights Reserved

  • x
  • Privacy Policy
  • About Us
  • Contact Us
  • Authors
Android
iOS