Israel has agreed to release to the Palestinians some 100 million dollars it has been withholding since early this month, a Palestinian government official confirmed Monday, DPA reported.
Israel stopped transfer of the funds, tax revenues collected on goods Palestinians import through Israeli ports, after the Palestinian Authority (PA) and the Islamist Hamas movement signed a reconciliation agreement in Cairo on May 4.
Israel said it did not want the money to reach Hamas, which refuses to recognize Israel's right to exist and has carried out rocket attacks from Gaza, as well as scores of suicide bombings, in the past.
Palestinian government spokesman Ghassan Khatib said US Secretary of State Hillary Rodham Clinton and international envoy Tony Blair had telephoned Prime Minister Salam Fayyad Sunday night to inform him of the Israeli decision.
The Israeli freeze of the transfer primarily hurt more than 150,000 Palestinian civil servants in the West Bank and Gaza, who had not yet received their April salaries.
"We hope that after Israel transfers the money it will not repeat this measure again," said Khatib.
He said the government would pay the salaries the minute the money entered the Palestinian treasury, but was unable to give a date.
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