Norwegian Prime Minister Jonas Gahr Stoere has urged Israel to release the full tax transfer it is withholding from the Palestinian Authority (PA), saying the payment was “critical” for the welfare the Palestinian population, Reuters reports.

On Nov 2, Israel said it would proceed with a tax revenue transfer to the PA in the Israeli-occupied West Bank but would withhold funds bound for Gaza, where the PA helps cover public sector wages and pay for electricity.

Israel’s decision came after an internal cabinet debate over whether to make the transfer as Israel bombards the enclave after the October 7 attack by Hamas.

On Nov 6, the PA said it would not accept a partial transfer from Israel. It is estimated to spend some 30 per cent of its budget in Gaza, where it also pays for medicine and social assistance programmes.

“We call on Israel to maintain the agreed transfer of what is Palestinian value creation, because these are taxes and VAT and financial sources (of income),” Stoere told Reuters in an interview in Oslo.