JERUSALEM — Israel’s state-owned electricity company briefly reduced the power supply to two Palestinian districts in the northern West Bank on Monday because of a ballooning debt, according to company officials, in a measure that also reflected the growing political disconnect between the Israeli and Palestinian sides.
The action by the Israel Electric Corporation came against the background of a worsening financial crisis in the Palestinian Authority after Israel began last month to withhold more than $100 million in monthly tax revenue it collects on behalf of the authority in response to the Palestinian leadership’s move to join the International Criminal Court.
Relations between Israel and the Palestinian Authority have been in a tailspin since President Mahmoud Abbas’s Fatah party signed a reconciliation agreement last April with Hamas, the Islamic militant group that controls Gaza, precipitating the breakdown of already troubled American-brokered Middle East peace talks.
–
Said Ghazali contributed reporting.
Go to Home Page »
