BICOM

Israel and the Palestinian Authority (PA) are expected to sign an agreement today to repay an enormous debt owed by the PA to Israel’s national electricity company.

Channel Two reported last night that a mechanism has been agreed to repay a debt of almost £400m owed to the Israel Electric Corporation (IEC). Apparently, around £100m will be repaid immediately, while a further £200m will be repaid in instalments over a lengthy period. The remaining £100m or so has reportedly been written off.

Haaretz says that the agreement will be signed by Maj. Gen. Yoav Mordechai, Israel’s coordinator of government activities in the Palestinian territories, and PA Civil Affairs Minister Hussein al-Sheikh. The agreement is reportedly the result of almost a year of negotiations involving Israel’s Finance Minister Moshe Kahlon and at times mediated by Norwegian officials. Israel’s Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu and Defence Minister Avigdor Lieberman have reportedly approved the agreement.

The outstanding debt had become a contentious diplomatic issue, with the IEC periodically having frozen electricity supplies to specific Palestinian areas. Such cuts were criticised in some international quarters and Israel’s government instead deducted portions of the debt from tax payments collected on behalf of the PA.

Also yesterday, Israeli security forces uncovered around 200 pounds of bomb-making supplies in a Palestinian village in the northern West Bank. During the joint IDF, police and Border Police operation, Israeli forces also discovered one and a half litres of prepared explosive material. The raid took place on the home of a man already in Israeli custody. In a separate operation also yesterday, Israeli forces discovered two pipe bombs and two Molotov cocktails in a Palestinian home in the southern West Bank.