Frozen Palestinian Funds Earmarked for Gaza to be Transferred to Norway

Jerusalem, 21 January, 2024 (TPS) -- Israel’s Security Cabinet approved a plan to transfer frozen funds earmarked for the Palestinian Authority to Norway on Sunday amid a battle over Ramallah’s financial support for the Gaza Strip Under the terms of an agreement endorsed by Norway and the US, Norway will not transfer the frozen funds to Ramallah without Israeli consent.

Members of the Cabinet say Ramallah’s monthly financial transfers to Gaza benefit Hamas.

According to the decision, the funds or their equivalent will not be transferred under any circumstances without the explicit approval of Israeli Finance Minister Bezalel Smotrich, even through an intermediary.

“Not one shekel will end up in Gaza!”, Smotrich posted on X after the Cabinet vote. “This time, encouraged by the United States for the steadfast policy I’ve championed since day one, we stand ready to halt all financial assistance to the Palestinian Authority at the slightest transfer of a shekel to Gaza.”

In November, the cabinet approved a partial transfer of funds to the Palestinian Authority, but withholding millions of shekels to offset what Ramallah transfers to the Gaza Strip each month.

The Palestinian Authority added hundreds of Palestinians who participated in the October 7 massacres to its list of people who qualify to receive controversial “pay for slay” terror stipends.

Of the 3,550 terrorists slated to receive payouts, 661 are Hamas terrorists from Gaza. The remainder are Palestinians arrested in almost daily Israeli counter-terror operations around Judea and Samaria. According to Israeli figures, around 1,300 of the terror suspects arrested in counter-terror raids since October 7 are affiliated with Hamas.

The Palestinian Authority refuses to accept any financial transfer unless the money earmarked for Gaza is included.

At least 1,200 people were killed in Hamas’s attacks on Israeli communities near the Gaza border on Oct. 7. The number of men, women, children, soldiers and foreigners held captive in Gaza by Hamas is now believed to be 136. Other people remain unaccounted for as Israeli authorities continue to identify bodies and search for human remains.