The U.S. is weighing in on requesting Israel to shell up some tax money it has been holding back from the Palestinian Authority and turn it over to a board that processes a Peace Plan.
By Catholics for Catholics
The U.S. is pondering on requesting Israel to shell up some tax money it has been holding back from the Palestinian Authority and turn it over to a board that processes a Peace Plan to fund a post-war Gaza, according to a story by Newsmax.
Still, the Trump administration has not yet determined whether to make a formal request to Israel, said three of the sources, officials with knowledge of U.S. deliberations with Israel.
But Palestinians with knowledge of the deliberations said that under the pitch, a part of the tax money would be transferred to a U.S.-backed transitional government for Gaza and other funds to the PA if it makes reforms.
The PA puts the amount of tax being withheld at $5 billion.
Nevertheless, the possibility of the Palestinians own tax money being repurposed toward Trump’s Gaza rebuilding plan, over which their government has had no say, could further relegate the Western-backed PA even as Israel’s withholding of the funds begets a financial crisis in the occupied West Bank.
In the West Bank, the PA exercises limited autonomy and has not had any influence over Gaza since it was exiled from the territory after a brief civil war with the militant group Hamas in 2007. Trump’s plan for Gaza, crushed after more than two years of war, has been held up by a refusal by Hamas to lay down their weapons and by continued Israeli attacks in Gaza that have undermined an October truce.
The Board of Peace refused to comment on whether a proposal to use Palestinian tax money was under deliberation.
However, Israel accepted a U.S. invitation to join the Board of Peace, but the PA was not invited. Under Trump’s plan, a group of Palestinian technocrats labeled the National Committee for the Administration of Gaza would take control of Gaza from Hamas as the militants lay down their weapons.
But Nickolay Mladenov, Trump’s Board of Peace emissary for Gaza, said during a press conference in Jerusalem on Wednesday that renovation planning was in advanced stages.
“We’re doing it sector by sector. We’re costing things. We’re coordinating with donors and we’re ready to begin in earnest once the conditions allow it,” Mladenov said, without mentioning the tax issue.
Save and Share This Catholic Patriotic Minute!
