Israel pays $1.1B in back tax payments to Palestinian Authority

Dec. 2 (UPI) -- The Israeli government on Wednesday said it's paid more than $1 billion in a backlog of tax money to the Palestinian Authority, after an impasse over the summer interrupted what are usually monthly payments.

Israel said it paid a total of close to $1.15 billion in back payments to Palestinian officials, who started refusing the monthly payments in July over Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu's plans to annex parts of the West Bank.

The payments are supposed to be made each month as part of a peace agreement from the 1990s. The Israeli money accounts for the largest share of the Palestinian Authority's budget, which has taken a significant hit with the COVID-19 pandemic.

The Palestinian Authority recently announced that it is again cooperating with Israel again after Jerusalem suspended Netanyahu's annexation plan.

The newly paid tax money, however, did not deduct stipends that the authority pays out to Palestinians who are injured or captured by Israel and relatives of the dead. The stipends are paid even if they are injured of captured while committing acts of terror. A 2018 law requires the Israeli government to deduct the estimated cost of those stipends in the monthly tax payments.

The Palestinian finance ministry said its public employees will now receive a full wage this month after working with half or partial payments for the last few months.

Palestinian officials said they will continue talks with Israel over "any remaining revenues not included in the current transfer."

The authority also said it will pay some of its outstanding debt to the private sector, mainly hospitals and medical suppliers to better fight the pandemic.