GAZA, 3rd April, 2017 (WAM) -- Members of the Knesset, led by Elazar Stern, of the Yesh Atid Party, have proposed a draft law that will oblige Israel to deduct allocations for prisoners or families of martyrs from financial dues that Israel is required to transfer to the Palestinian Authority Treasury based on agreements between both sides, the Yedioth Ahronoth newspaper reported today.
"The Knesset members who proposed this draft law said that the Palestinian Authority's budget for 2016 showed that the amount paid by Palestinian authorities to prisoners or families of martyrs was ILS1.1 billion, equivalent to US$300 million," the newspaper added. The Paris Convention 2005 stipulated that Israel would collect customs duties and various taxes for the Palestinian Authority, while receivables are transferred to the authority on a monthly basis. All goods being imported into the authority's areas pass through Israeli ports, but the State of Israel frequently blocks or delays the transfer of these amounts to the Palestinian Authority. The draft law, titled "Deduction from the Palestinian Authority Funds for Supporting Terrorism," was placed on the agenda of the Knesset a week ago, and its initiators claimed that paying allowances to the prisoners and families of martyrs was a breach of the Oslo Accords, while demanding that ILS1.1 billion be deducted from financial dues being transferred to the Palestinian Authority. "The funds being given by the Palestinian Authority to martyrs families are not only perceived as incitement but also encourage terrorist operations," Stern said.Copyright Emirates News Agency (WAM) 2017.
