The tax revenues Israel collects for the Palestinian Authority under an agreement between the parties are a major source of income for the PA, which is already in a financial crisis.

The U.S. is concerned that suspending the transfer of the money will further destabilize the Palestinian Authority and its security services in the occupied West Bank, where 125 Palestinians have been killed since the start of the war, according to the Palestinian Ministry of Health in Ramallah.

[Israel suspended the payments after Abbas took the side of Hamas in the 10/7 massacre and the war Hamas touched off with them. It probably makes sense to restore the payments as long as Abbas keeps a lid on the West Bank during the war, but the hit to the pockets of Fatah serves a purpose. The real risk is that an extended suspension could collapse the PA, and there aren’t any better alternatives, at least at the moment. — Ed]