Israel cancels PM Palestine pass
2023.01.08 13:55
Israel cancels PM Palestine pass
Budrigannews.com – As part of its response to Palestinian efforts to involve the International Court of Justice (ICJ) in the conflict, Israel suspended on Sunday a pass that made it easier for the Palestinian foreign minister to travel within the occupied West Bank and around it.
On Friday, the right-wing security cabinet of Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu announced a number of steps, including using Palestinian funds to compensate victims of Palestinian militant attacks and suspending Palestinian construction in some Israeli-occupied West Bank areas.
On behalf of the Palestinian Authority, Israel collects tax revenue.
His office reported that Israeli border staff took Foreign Minister Riyad al-Maliki’s “VIP” travel card as he entered the occupied West Bank from Jordan.
The move was acknowledged by a spokesperson for Israel’s Defense Ministry, which oversees the West Bank, and referred to as a component of the implementation of the decision made by the government on Friday.
Netanyahu stated that the decision included “sanctions against senior Palestinian figures” in televised remarks to the Israeli cabinet on Sunday.
Netanyahu stated, “The Palestinian Authority has promoted an extremist anti-Israeli resolution at the UN.”
On December 30, the U.N. General Assembly requested an opinion from the International Court of Justice (ICJ) regarding the legal consequences of Israel’s occupation of Palestinian territories in response to a Palestinian appeal.
In response to their visit to a member of Israel’s Arab minority who had been imprisoned for the killing of an Israeli soldier, the Defense Ministry of Israel announced on Saturday that the VIP cards of three additional senior Palestinian officials had been revoked.
The cards, which were issued as part of interim agreements with Israel from the 1990s, make it easier to cross the Israeli-controlled West Bank border with Jordan and enter Israel from Palestinian-ruled territory.
An aide to Maliki, Ahmed Al-Deek, told Reuters, “The foreign minister will continue his job and his diplomatic activities with or without the card.”
After Maliki returned from an International Criminal Court meeting in 2021, Israel took his VIP card. When and for what reason the card had been reinstated were not immediately clear.
During a briefing with reporters, Finance Minister Bezalel Smotrich stated that he approved the transfer of approximately $40 million worth of frozen Palestinian funds to victims of Palestinian attacks.
He declared, “There is no justice greater than deducting money from the Palestinian Authority that worked to support terrorism and transferring it to the families of terrorist victims.”
Palestinian officials have stated that they will continue their efforts to gain international support and have criticized the Israeli measures.
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