Newly appointed Israeli Finance Minister Bezalel Smotrich has signed an order approving a series of sanctions on the Palestinian Authority, including the redistribution of frozen Palestinian funds to the families of victims of terrorism, in response to the PA appealing to the International Court of Justice (ICJ) over Israel’s occupation of the West Bank.

During Thursday’s Security Cabinet meeting, the new government’s first since the election, five resolutions were adopted in response to the PA-backed UN resolution seeking the legal consequences of Israel’s ongoing occupation and annexation of the West Bank from the ICJ.

According to a post from the Prime Minister of Israel’s official Facebook account, one of the adopted resolutions includes compensation in the amount of NIC 139 million (£32.7 million/$39.8 million) to the families of victims of terror, taken from frozen Palestinian Authority funds.

Israel collects taxes for the Palestinian Authority, and will be deducting the money owed by the Authority from that to give to the families of victims.

Israel PMO resolutions

A post from the Facebook page of the Israeli Prime Minister’s Office outlining five steps taken in response to the UN resolution (Credit: Facebook)

The lawyer that represents the victims of terrorism, Nissan Darshan-Leitner, said: “Victims of terrorism thank the Minister of Finance for deciding to stop the legal torture that families are suffering, and from now on they will receive the compensation money they deserve.”

Mr Smotrich said over the weekend: “There is no justice greater than deducting money from the Palestinian Authority that worked to support terrorism and transferring it to the families of victims of terrorism,

“There is no real solace for the families of those murdered, but there is justice.”

Over the weekend, PA’s Prime Minister Mohammad Shtayyeh warned that the withholding of funds could “crush” the PA.

During a rare interview with Haaretz, Mr Shtayyeh said: “We’re reading the situation very clearly. Increasing construction in settlements alongside disconnecting Jerusalem from the West Bank, annexing Area C territory and now crushing the PA - that’s the plan being carried out by the Israeli government.”

In response to fears that this decision, which was approved by Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu’s cabinet, will lead to the collapse of the Palestinian Authority, Mr Smotrich said: “As long as the Palestinian Authority encourages terrorism, I have no interest in its continuing to exist.”

As well as transferring PA funds to the families of Israeli victims, the security cabinet also decided to “take action” against organisations that promote “hostile activity”, and to freeze Palestinian construction plans in Area C of the West Bank, where Israel maintains control.

The UN General Assembly passed the PA-backed resolution in late December, which calls on the ICJ to give their opinion on the legal consequences of Israel’s “occupation, settlement and annexation” of Palestinian territories, as well as the demographic altering of Jerusalem through discriminatory legislation and measures.

The UN resolution passed 87 to 26, with 53 abstentions. Among those who voted in favour was Russia and China, and all of the Islamic world, including the Arab states that have normalised relations with Israel. The UK voted against.

UK diplomat to the UN, Thomas Phipps, said of the vote: “We do not feel that a referral to the International Court of Justice is helpful in bringing the parties back to dialogue.

“It is also the position of the UK that it is inappropriate without the consent of both parties to ask the court to give an advisory opinion in what is essentially a bilateral dispute.”

In response to the resolution being passed, Israel’s Security Cabinet stated it would “not accept the Palestinian Authority’s political and legal war against the State of Israel”.

Israel’s Foreign Minister, Eli Cohen, said last week: “The Palestinian Authority is not interested in a solution, nor is it interested in a real improvement of the situation of the Palestinians. All they care about is harming Israel.”

In 2004, the ICJ ruled that Israel’s wall in the West Bank and East Jerusalem was contrary to international law, a ruling that Israel rejected.

The ICJ, based in Hague, is the UN’s top court dealing with disputes between countries. Though the ICJ’s rulings are binding, the body has no power to enforce them.