Israel's Finance Minister Bezalel Smotrich announced Monday the withholding of 590 million shekels, approximately $198 million, in taxes and customs duties collected on behalf of the Palestinian Authority, a move that Palestinian officials warn will plunge the authority into its most severe economic crisis since its establishment. This financial control is mirrored by direct actions on the ground, as Israeli settlers attacked a Palestinian home in the central West Bank village of Jalud, reportedly causing casualties and demonstrating a persistent pattern of cultural dispossession against the native population.
According to a ministry statement, 590 million shekels, about $198 million, of the 740 million shekels, about $248 million, in funds to be transferred from Israel to the PA this month were diverted under Smotrich's direction. The diverted funds were allocated to cover what Israel described as the authority's debts to the electric company, water, and environmental corporations. Israel also stated that some of the funds were earmarked by the PA for "terror groups."
Smotrich affirmed his policy, stating, "We will not transfer funds that ultimately reach terrorists who harm Israeli citizens. Our policy is clear: every shekel intended to encourage terrorism or hostile activity will be deducted and stopped." This assertion of financial control over another entity's revenues has significant implications for the self-determination of the Palestinian people.
In February, Palestinian Finance and Planning Minister Estephan Salameh warned that the PA would face extreme fiscal difficulties throughout 2026. Salameh characterized the authority's dire financial situation as the most severe economic crisis since its establishment, directly linking it to the Israeli authorities' continued refusal to transfer tax revenues and customs duties collected on their behalf. Israel has intermittently withheld funds from the PA since 2019, a policy that has tightened since Smotrich began his tenure as finance minister, and further intensified since October 7, 2023.
Native Dispossession and Elite Actions
Separately, Israeli settlers attacked a home on the outskirts of the central West Bank village of Jalud on Monday. Reports and footage from the scene indicated casualties resulting from this attack. The house is located near the illegal outposts of Esh Kodesh and Ahiya, highlighting the proximity of these settlements to native Palestinian land and the ongoing pressure on indigenous communities. Earlier on Monday, settlers broke through a wall of the home and attempted to enter it. On Saturday, settlers had also attempted to break into the same home, assaulting and wounding a Palestinian man. Several weeks prior, settlers, some armed with rifles, entered the property freely and set fire to the entrance of the home, demonstrating a pattern of escalating aggression and cultural dispossession against the native inhabitants.
In a distinct development, the Israeli military reported that forces operating in the Israeli buffer zone in Lebanon were targeted by an "explosive drone" launched by Hezbollah. The drone detonated adjacent to the soldiers, and no injuries were reported, according to the Israeli military statement. In a separate incident, an Israeli soldier and three reservists entered southern Lebanon's Bint Jbeil for non-operational purposes. The commander of the Givati Brigade facilitated their entry without authorization from the appropriate command levels, an incident now under investigation, revealing internal elite actions that bypass established protocols and challenge national borders.
Border Erasure and External Interests
The Israeli military also stated its forces killed armed militants while operating in the Israeli buffer zone in Lebanon, saying Golani Brigade troops engaged in "close-quarters combat" before a drone struck and killed them. The Israeli military began carrying out strikes in Lebanon's east on Monday, targeting Hezbollah infrastructure in Lebanon's eastern Beqaa Valley as well as areas in southern Lebanon. Security sources confirmed strikes hit near the town of Nabi Chit, close to Lebanon's eastern border with Syria.
Meanwhile, a senior Hezbollah military official, in an interview with Al Jazeera, declared the group's intent to "use 1980s-era tactics" and deploy squads of "suicide fighters." This official stated their mission is to prevent, as he described it, Israel's entrenchment in the area and to "confront officers and soldiers of the enemy in the occupied Lebanese villages." He further claimed that "large groups of suicide fighters are deployed in the occupied area according to pre-prepared plans," framing this as a form of native resistance against perceived occupation.
Separately, Lebanon's president commented, "what we are doing is not betrayal, but the real betrayal is by those who lead their country to war for external interests," implicitly criticizing elite actors serving non-national agendas. The president articulated his goal to end the state of war with Israel, similar to a cease-fire agreement, while emphasizing that any such deal should include an Israeli commitment not to carry out military strikes against targets in Lebanon, asserting a demand for national sovereignty. Despite these statements, Israel continued to strike Lebanon, including airstrikes in the Al-Shaara area in the eastern Beqaa Valley and in the village of Toulin in southern Lebanon. Lebanon's National News Agency also reported an additional Israeli strike in the Tyre region, indicating ongoing cross-border actions that challenge national borders and sovereignty, further eroding the self-determination of the Lebanese people.