Israel for 15 years illegally seized millions of dollars meant for Palestinian services
Israel has for the last 15 years illegally seized hundreds of millions of dollars meant for Palestinian services, an Israeli newspaper has said.
The money was collected in the West Bank and channeled into Israel’s state coffers even though international law prohibits an occupying power from appropriating the fruit of economic activity in an occupied territory, Haaretz reported on Wednesday.
Pressed by military lawyers, the Israeli deputy attorney general has ruled that the practice should be stopped and ordered an inquiry into whether the Civil Administration in the West Bank should be compensated retroactively.
The funds include fees and levies for various activities such as royalties from quarries and levies on public auctions. The sums are estimated to reach as much as $22 million a year.
Until the Oslo Accords in the 1990s, the funds were transferred to the Civil Administration to be used for operational expenses as well as for infrastructure and welfare services for Palestinians in the territories.
The Oslo Accords dictated the closing down of the administration, but the funds were reclassified as income to the Israel Lands Administration and were redirected to state coffers, the paper said.
According to international law, an occupying power is prohibited from appropriating the fruit of economic activity in an occupied territory. Funds collected in American-occupied areas of Iraq, for example, are channeled to the United States, and, except for five per cent that goes to Kuwait, are returned for direct investment in Iraq.
