The Israeli newspaper "Yedioth Ahronoth" reported today, Sunday, that Finance Minister Bezalel Smotrich, leader of the "Religious Zionism" party, issued instructions to the Tax Authority to confiscate an amount of 3.1 million shekels from the Palestinian Authority's funds and tax revenues.

The Israeli newspaper quoted Smotrich as saying that he decided to transfer these funds to pay compensation to Israelis who were injured in Palestinian resistance operations, in accordance with a court ruling.

Smotrich added: I have signed the execution order to seize the funds that the Palestinian Authority transfers to the families of Palestinian prisoners.

Following the "Al-Aqsa Flood" battle on October 7, and the Israeli war on the Gaza Strip, Smotrich notified Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu that he decided to suspend the transfer of clearance funds to the Palestinian Authority, which provoked the Israeli security agencies, who warned of an escalation of the security situation in the West Bank.

It is noted that Israel collects taxes on behalf of the Palestinian Authority against Palestinians' imports of goods, and transfers the funds to them monthly, averaging 750 million shekels.

Israel has confiscated such amounts in the past, after legislation in 2018 regarding this matter, but it only partially supported this policy, as officials realize that the Palestinian Authority is on the verge of serious financial collapse, and Israel uses tax money to pressure the Palestinian Authority and sometimes punish it either due to its continuous support for the security prisoners and the families of Palestinian attackers, which Israel and other critics say provides a direct incentive to carry out attacks, or their seeking the opinion of the highest judicial body in the United Nations on Israel's control over the West Bank.