MIDDLE EAST:Israel is considering handing over millions of dollars in withheld Palestinian tax funds to president Mahmoud Abbas in a move that could bolster him in the run-up to elections over his Hamas rivals, sources said yesterday.
Western diplomats and Palestinian sources, who spoke on condition of anonymity, said the proposal under consideration called for releasing the tax money to Abbas in stages, with assurances it would bypass the Hamas-led government.
That could allow the moderate president to make direct payments to Palestinian civil servants, who have not received their full salaries since Hamas came to power in March.
Israel is under US and European pressure to help strengthen Abbas.
Abbas is expected to hold long-awaited talks with Israeli prime minister Ehud Olmert in the coming days, Palestinian officials say. Mr Olmert told reporters the meeting would be "very soon" but gave no date.
Abbas's call for new presidential and parliamentary elections has triggered fierce fighting in Gaza between his Fatah forces and those loyal to Hamas.
Yesterday, Fatah and Hamas forces withdrew from the streets after a fresh ceasefire took effect that aimed to halt a slide into civil war.
The previous truce fell apart within 24 hours.
Israel is holding about $500 million (€379 million) in Palestinian tax revenues, an Israeli finance ministry official said.
Mr Olmert's office declined to comment on Israel's plans for the money, which it collects on the Palestinians' behalf.
"We have not been officially informed. We don't know how much the sum would be," top Abbas aide Rafiq Husseini said.
Ten Palestinians have been killed in Gaza since Saturday when Mr Abbas called for early elections to break a political deadlock with Hamas and get western sanctions lifted.
A senior aide to Mr Abbas said the president planned to issue a decree next week to lay the legal foundations for fresh elections, which Hamas described as unconstitutional.