Israel releases $ 43 million of Palestinian money

The Israeli foreign minister Shimon Peres on Wednesday announced that Israel has released 200 million Shekels ($ 43 million), representing 10% of the Palestinian revenues frozen by Israel since the beginning of the Palestinian Intifada in September 2000.

In a statement to CNN, Peres explained that the Palestinian minister of finance Salam Fayyad was informed of this measure, following a meeting held on Saturday evening in Jerusalem with the a Palestinian delegation chaired by chief Palestinian negotiator Saeb Oreikat. Peres said that Israel thinks of releasing 10% of two billion Israeli shekels ( $ 43 million) that should be paid to the Palestinian Authority. He explained that $ 20 million were taken out of this sum to pay debts relating to waters, electricity and health services provided by Israel. These sums are accumulated as a result of added tax value and the prescribed customs fees on items imported to the West Bank and Gaza through the Israeli territories, and Israel froze them since the beginning of the Palestinian Intifada by the end of September 2000 as a punitive measure. Since then, Israel has refused to release these sums under pretext that they may be used to finance radical organizations launching attacks against Israel.