Palestinian Revenue Is Transferred

The Israeli government agreed Sunday to release $55 million in taxes and customs duties it had withheld from the cash-strapped Palestinian Authority in the wake of Hamas’ victory in last month’s parliamentary elections.

But Israeli leaders warned that future transfers of the funds collected on behalf of the Palestinian Authority would hinge on the shape and tenor of the new Palestinian government. The money had been relayed automatically each month, under a long-standing economic agreement.

Hamas, a radical Islamic group sworn to Israel’s destruction, won the right to form a new Palestinian government after capturing a majority of legislative seats Jan. 25 and displacing the long-dominant Fatah party of Palestinian Authority President Mahmoud Abbas.

Israel proceeded with the transfer, due last Wednesday, because “Hamas has not yet formed a government on the other side,” said Foreign Ministry spokesman Mark Regev. But he said future transfers would no longer be automatic, and would “depend on how things will develop on the other side.”

Palestinian leaders had complained of Israel’s decision to suspend the transfer, saying the money was urgently needed to help pay the salaries of about 135,000 public employees.

Israeli leaders have vowed to have no dealings with a Hamas-led government unless the group recognizes Israel, renounces violence and adheres to agreements in place between the Palestinians and Israel.

The new Palestinian parliament is to convene Feb. 16, and Hamas leaders say they hope to form a government by month’s end.

Hamas has carried out dozens of suicide bombings and other attacks against Israelis during more than five years of conflict, and is considered a terrorist organization by Israel, the United States and the European Union.

The United States and Europe have threatened to halt tens of millions of dollars in aid unless Hamas drops its rejection of Israel and renounces armed struggle. Palestinian officials have warned that such an aid cut could be catastrophic. Western countries contribute about $1 billion a year.

Hamas leaders have indicated that they hope to find financial help elsewhere.

The Palestinian attorney general, meanwhile, said Sunday that as much as $700 million may have been stolen or misspent by officials in the Fatah-led government.

Ahmed Moghani told reporters in Gaza City that two dozen officials had been arrested as part of a far-reaching probe into companies with ties to the Palestinian Authority. More suspects were being sought, including some who are now abroad, and prosecutions were planned, he said.

Corruption in the Palestinian Authority under Fatah rule was a major issue in the legislative campaign.

Also Sunday, a series of Israeli airstrikes in the Gaza Strip killed at least five people.

At least two militants from the Islamic Jihad group were killed and four people injured in a strike on a pair of cars in the Zeitoun neighborhood of Gaza City, Palestinian medical officials said.

Islamic Jihad said the two killed were field commanders riding in the same vehicle.

The Israeli military said the men were involved in firing rockets from the Gaza Strip into Israel.

In another strike, three Palestinian militants were killed and five people injured, including several members of the Palestinian security forces who were hurt when one of the Israeli missiles struck a car passing their base.

The militants were members of the Al Aqsa Martyrs Brigade, a militia tied to Fatah.

Ismail Haniya, who had the top spot on Hamas’ slate in last month’s elections, condemned the airstrikes, saying “Hamas is firm in its attitude toward the Zionist crimes committed against the Palestinian people whether Hamas is ruling or not.”

Israel also fired artillery shells into an area of the northern Gaza Strip from which militants have launched homemade rockets into Israeli communities. One of those rockets injured three members of an Israeli family, including an infant, when it struck Friday in a community near the city of Ashkelon.

In the Israeli city of Petah Tikva northwest of Jerusalem, a Palestinian man armed with a knife killed an Israeli woman and wounded four other people aboard a public-transport van, police said.

The attacker, described by authorities as a university student in his 20s from a village near the West Bank city of Nablus, stabbed several passengers in the van, police said.

The attacker was subdued by passengers and placed under arrest.

He told investigators that “he came in to kill as many Jews as possible,” said Israeli police spokesman Micky Rosenfeld.

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Special correspondent Fayed abu Shammalah in Gaza City contributed to this report.