JERUSALEM: Israel and the Palestinian Authority decided to resume economic cooperation suspended by the Jewish state last year, at a meeting of their finance ministers yesterday.
The Israeli finance ministry, announcing the agreement as host of the Jerusalem talks, said newly appointed Palestinian minister Shukri Bishara met Israel’s Yair Lapid, who took office in March.
They discussed “the implementation of confidence-building measures”, it said, and a timetable was laid down after the meeting to renew economic ties between Israel and the Palestinians.
Palestinian finance ministry spokesman Rami Mahdawi said Israel had agreed to hand over the monthly taxes it collects for the Palestinian Authority. Between December 2012 and March 2013, Israel suspended the transfer of the taxes in reprisal for the Palestinians being accorded the status of observer state at the United Nations.
The aim of renewed cooperation is to relaunch regular meetings on technical issues such as crossing points; fuel, power and water supplies; and payment for treatment of Palestinians in Israeli hospitals, the Palestinians said. Israel halted the meetings in November after the UN General Assembly upgraded the Palestinians’ status in the face of stiff objections from both Israel and the United States.
Lapid said economic cooperation would benefit both sides.
“There are problems concerning daily life for Palestinians that must be coordinated and followed up with Israeli occupation authorities,” Palestinian negotiator Saeb Erakat said on Voice of Palestine radio.
New Palestinian PM visits Al Aqsa
JERUSALEM: New Palestinian Prime Minister Rami Hamdallah visited Al Aqsa mosque in the Old City of Jerusalem yesterday, in a first for a serving Palestinian premier, the official Wafa news agency reported. Al Aqsa, Islam’s third holiest site, is built on the site of the Temple Mount, the holiest site in Judaism.
“Jerusalem is a symbol of the Palestinian question,” Hamdallah told the agency. “Our visit today shows how important Jerusalem is to the Palestinian government.”
Wafa said Hamdallah also met the mufti of Jerusalem, Mohammed Hussein, and visited Al Maqased hospital in Israeli-occupied east Jerusalem. The new Palestinian government headed by Hamdallah was sworn in on June 6 in Ramallah in the West Bank.
Libya’s PM in Benghazi after clashes
BENGHAZI: Libya’s premier was due to meet local authorities in Benghazi today, a government source said, as special forces units patrolled the city a day after clashes with gunmen killed six soldiers.
Prime Minister Ali Zeidan was due to travel to the eastern city with members of his government to discuss the security situation, the source said on condition of anonymity. An onlooker in Benghazi said that “special forces soldiers have been deployed in the city and patrolled the streets, which are calm again”.Agencies
