Israeli military alarmed by standoff over West Bank funds, report says
The Israeli military has warned the government that its policy of cutting off funds to the Palestinian Authority could push the occupied West Bank into a third “intifada”, public broadcaster Kan Radio has reported.
The warning underlined the increasingly dire state of the West Bank economy where hundreds of thousands of workers have lost their jobs in Israel and public servants have been unpaid or on partial pay for months.
Israel has blocked Palestinian workers from entering from the occupied West Bank since October 7.
According to estimates from the Palestinian finance ministry, Israel has been holding back a total of around 6 billion shekels ($1.61bn) in tax revenues, which has resulted in growing hardship.
US says collapse of Palestinian Authority a ‘massive security threat’
The United States says Israel will see a “massive” negative impact if the Palestinian Authority collapses as Washington presses its ally to let revenue flow to the occupied West Bank’s governing body.
“We have made clear to the government of Israel in some very direct conversations that there is nothing that could be more counter to the strategic interests of Israel than the collapse of the Palestinian Authority,” State Department spokesperson Matthew Miller told reporters.
While acknowledging shortcomings in the Palestinian Authority, he said the Ramallah-based body has helped maintain stability in the occupied West Bank even as war rages in Gaza, run for years by rivals Hamas.
“If you saw the Palestinian Authority collapse and instability spread across the West Bank, it’s not just a problem for the Palestinians,” he said, adding it is also “a massive security threat for the state of Israel”.
Under peace agreements in the 1990s, Israel collects money for the PA, which exercises limited autonomy in parts of the occupied West Bank. Israel then disburses the funds to the PA. However, Israel has been blocking revenue since Hamas’s attack inside Israel on October 7.
Israeli leader promises to change ‘security reality’ in occupied West Bank
Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu, speaking at the end of a security assessment on the occupied West Bank, says while Israel is facing “complicated international pressure” it’s determined to change the “security reality” in the area.
“Israel is engaged in a difficult battle on many fronts. We are fighting in the south, we are fighting in the north, we are also fighting in [West Bank],” he said.
The West Bank is among territories Israel seized in a 1967 Middle East war. The Palestinians want it to be the core of their future independent state and say the expansion of Israeli settlements in the area is an obstacle to achieving that goal. According to the UN, more than 500 Palestinians and 12 Israelis have been killed in the occupied West Bank since October 7.
Israeli troops kill 3 Palestinians in Jenin raid
We have more information on the ongoing Israeli assault on Jenin, in the occupied West Bank.
The Palestinian health ministry says Israeli forces killed three Palestinians and another 13 people were wounded during the incursion. The Israeli army didn’t immediately respond to a request for comment.
The al-Quds Brigades, the armed wing of Palestinian Islamic Jihad, said in a statement that its fighters were engaged in “violent clashes” near the Jenin refugee camp.
Israeli forces fire at emergency responders removing bodies in Jenin: PRCS
The Palestine Red Crescent Society posted video on X showing the paramedics taking cover as they worked to put two men onto stretches and load them into two ambulances.
Palestinian health authorities said earlier at least three Palestinians were killed in the Israeli raid on the camp in the occupied West Bank.
Medics with the PRCS have repeatedly been targeted and killed by Israeli forces since the war on Gaza began. Intentionally killing medical workers is a war crime under international law.
