Palestinian Authority official Hussein al-Sheikh said “any deductions from our financial rights” would be rejected.

Taxes collected by Israel and destined for the Gaza Strip will be withheld in Norway and not passed on to the Palestinian Authority (PA), which exercises limited self-rule in the Israeli-occupied West Bank, according to a plan approved by Israeli officials.

“The frozen funds will not be transferred to the Palestinian Authority, but will remain in the hands of a third country,” said a statement from the Israeli prime minister’s office released on Sunday.

“The money or its consideration will not be transferred under any circumstances except with the consent of the Israeli Finance Minister, including through a third party,” it said.

Under an agreement reached in the 1990s, Israel collects taxes on behalf of the Palestinians and transfers them monthly to the Palestinian Authority pending approval from the Finance Ministry.

Although the Palestinian Authority was forced out of the Strip in 2007, many of its public employees in the enclave kept their jobs and continued to be paid with transferred tax revenues.

But almost a month after that October 7 attack – When Hamas militants launched an unprecedented attack on southern Israel, killing at least 1,139 people and taking about 240 prisoners, according to an Al Jazeera tally based on Israeli statistics, Israeli authorities decided to withhold funds intended for the Gaza Strip.

In response to the withdrawal of funds, the PA refused to accept a partial transfer of funds.

“Any deductions from our financial rights or any conditions imposed by Israel that prevent the PA from paying our people in Gaza are rejected by us,” senior PA official Hussein al-Sheikh said on X.

“We call on the international community to stop this behavior based on piracy and theft of money from the Palestinian people and force Israel to transfer all our money,” he added.

Nour Odeh, a political analyst based in Ramallah in the occupied West Bank, said Israel was using its influence over tax revenues to “punish” and “weaken” the PA.

“It is a way for Israel to show how much control it has over everything, including the functioning of the PA.” It is not clear whether the Palestinian Authority would be willing to accept conditions because it would be humiliating to go back on its promise “Not to take the revenue, minus Gaza’s share of it,” she told Al Jazeera.

“[WIthholding the revenues] will have a huge impact because Palestinian Authority workers will not receive their salaries while many are starving due to the Israeli siege and war – people need this money to survive.”

Far-right Israeli National Security Minister Itamar Ben-Gvir was the only member of the government to speak out against the plan to send the funds to Norway.

Ben-Gvir said the plan does not guarantee that the money will not be transferred to Gaza.

“Last week they started transporting flour trucks and now they are making a decision that does not guarantee that the money will not reach the Nazis from Gaza,” the far-right leader said on X, adding that Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu “ “constantly”. move “the red line”.

The issue caused tension within the Israeli war cabinet. Defense Minister Yoav Gallant called for funds to be distributed to maintain stability in the occupied West Bank.

Violence there has increased since the start of the war, with Israeli forces carrying out almost daily raids and mass arrests in towns and villages.

Since then, according to UN figures, at least 319 Palestinians have been killed by Israeli forces or settlers and more than 6,000 have been arrested, according to the advocacy group Palestinian Prisoners Club.