Israel transfers PA funds as threat of sanctions wanes

Palestinian public sector workers received their salaries on Tuesday, Palestinian officials said, in a sign that Israel had backed down from a threat to impose sanctions as PA talks began to collapse last month.

Israel had said on April 10 it would withhold funds after PA Head Mahmoud Abbas signed a series of international human rights conventions he hoped would allow Palestinians to eventually challenge Israel at the United Nations, which recognized Palestine as a non-member state in 2012.

US-backed Israeli-PA negotiations ended on April 29 with no breakthrough.

Palestinian officials said the payment reflected Israel's decision to transfer more than $100 million in customs duties it collects on goods headed to PA-run areas through border crossings it controls.

The money accounts for about two-thirds of the PA budget and is key to keeping its large public sector functioning and maintaining stability in the Israeli-occupied West Bank.