G7 finance ministers have urged Israel not to disrupt “vital financial transactions” in the occupied Palestinian territories, following indications it could cut off Palestinian banks, AFP reports.
“We call on Israel to take the necessary measures to ensure that correspondent banking services between Israeli and Palestinian banks remain in place, so that vital financial transactions and critical trade and services continue,” read the final statement following the talks in Italy.
The G7 ministers who had gathered in Stresa for the two-day finance summit also urged Israel “to release withheld clearance revenues to the Palestinian Authority, in view of its urgent fiscal needs”.
They asked Israel “to remove or relax other measures that have negatively impacted commerce to avoid further exacerbating the economic situation in the West Bank”.