$100 million pledged by the Arab League for Palestinian Authority

The Arab League has pledged a sum of $100m a month for the Palestinian Authority for plugging the gap which has been created due to the blockade of the tax transfers by Israel earlier in the year. It has been confirmed by the governments of various Arab states that they will support the state budget of Palestine for resisting the political and financial pressure which it is faced with.
Israel has been collecting the taxes on the behalf of the Palestinian Authority but did not transfer $138m in the month of February over the payments given by the Palestine to the political prisoners who had been in jail for carrying out attacks on Israelis. The Palestinian Authority sees the payments as a kind of welfare for the families who have lost their bread-winners. The Israeli freeze came as the Palestinians faced a massive budget cut which was made last year by after the United States also cut down the funding for the Palestinian refugee programme of the UN under the aegis of UNRWA. The funding was also for other development programmes in the territories of Palestine.
The UN’s World Food Programme also slashed its service due to the funding gaps. It is the reduction in funding which is seen as a major setback for the Palestinian Authority which is faced with constant budget shortfalls. The concession by the Arab League has come at a time the Trump administration is preparing to present a much-awaited “deal of the century” for peace between the Palestinians and the Israel in a few months. The Palestinian leadership has expressed its distrust on the US due to many moves primarily the recognition of Jerusalem as the new capital of Israel. It has stated on many occasions that it does not trust the US as an unbiased mediator. The leaders of Palestine have seen the occupied East Jerusalem as their capital in their future state. The status of Jerusalem has always been a point of major contention in the conflict along with the illegal expansion of the Jewish settlements on the land claimed by Palestine. The Arab League has said that the deal will not be successful for achieving a long-lasting and comprehensive peace in the Middle-East. It is said that peace plan is being prepared by Jared Kushner who is said to have very close ties with the Israeli PM Benjamin Netanyahu which has led to Palestinian doubts over the deal.