UK envoy warns Israel tax freeze a humanitarian risk

The UK's top diplomat to the Palestinians said Thursday that Israel's hold on Palestinian tax revenues could be illegal under international humanitarian law. If Israel continues to freeze tax payments, it will endanger services such as medical care and programs for children, consul-general in Jerusalem Vincent Fean told reporters. "Israel may face valid accusations from the international community that through its (tax hold) it has violated its obligations under the Fourth Geneva Convention," Fean said. Israel froze the transfer of funds owed to the West Bank government, amounting to around $100 million a month, after the UN cultural agency UNESCO voted to admit Palestine as a member on Oct. 31. Prime Minister in the Ramallah-based government Salam Fayyad said Thursday the PA is "fast approaching the point of being completely incapacitated" by the tax block. Presidential adviser Nabil Abu Rudainah earlier described it as "inhumane." "These are funds that belong to the Palestinian Authority by right and Israel has an obligation to transfer" the tax revenues, Fean said on Thursday. "Nor do we accept the multiple reasons Israel gives" to block the funds, he said. "Clearly we need Israel to give (the money) back." Critics of the fund block in Israel have focused on risks to Palestinian security forces' ability to maintain order. Israeli media reported that Israeli Defense Minister Ehud Barak has pressed to stop the freeze before Israel's cabinet voted to renew the decision on Nov. 14. But all 150,000 government employees are affected by the stopping of funds. When Israel froze revenues earlier this year after Hamas and Fatah signed a unity deal, the PA delayed salary payments to all its employees for the first time since 2007. Under the terms of an economic agreement between the sides signed in Paris in 1994, Israel transfers customs duties levied on goods destined for Palestinian markets each month, which amount to around half of the PA's domestic revenue base. Israel controls all entry and exit points to the West Bank since it occupied the territory in 1967.