G7 urges Israel to protect Palestinian banking services: draft statement

G7 Finance Ministers urge Israel to maintain vital financial transactions in Palestinian territories amid potential disruptions.

G7 Finance Ministers were set to urge Israel on May 24 not to disrupt “vital financial transactions” in the occupied Palestinian territories, following indications it could cut off Palestinian banks.

“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,” a draft statement following talks in Italy, seen by AFP, said.

The G7 ministers gathered in Stresa also urged Israel “to release withheld clearance revenues to the Palestinian Authority, in view of its urgent fiscal needs”.

And 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”.

US Treasury Secretary Janet Yellen had on Thursday expressed concern at Israel’s “threats” to cut off Palestinian banks from their Israeli correspondent banks.

Israeli Finance Minister Bezalel Smotrich said on Wednesday he planned not to renew a vital arrangement between financial institutions, which is due to expire within weeks.

Ms. Yellen warned of the eventual risk of a “humanitarian crisis” if this happened, and said she had raised her concerns with Israel.