RAMALLAH – The Palestinian government on Wednesday rejected any arrangements to transfer tax revenues withheld by Israel to the Board of Peace established by US President Donald Trump.

According to Mohammed Abu al-Rub, director of the Palestinian Government Communication Center, the tax revenues constitute 68 percent of Palestine's income.

"Any arrangements or proposals concerning these revenues must be based on the fact that they are Palestinian funds and represent unpaid salaries to employees, including doctors, teachers, and others in various sectors," he said.

Abu al-Rub stressed that any proposal regarding the clearance funds must respect the Palestinian Authority's right to control them and be approved through the official Palestinian decision-making process.

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He said Israel is withholding more than $6 billion in Palestinian tax revenues, adding that recovering the funds remains the government's priority.

The comments came after The Times of Israel reported in May that the United States is considering asking Israel to transfer part of the withheld tax revenues to Trump's Board of Peace to fund the US president's post-war plan for Gaza.

Clearance revenues consist of taxes and customs duties levied on goods imported into the Palestinian territories from Israel or through Israeli land, sea, and air border crossings. Under the Paris Economic Protocol, part of the Oslo Accords, Israel collects the revenues on behalf of the Palestinian Authority.

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Since 2019, Israel has been deducting sums from clearance revenues due to payments made to prisoners and released detainees. For more than a year, it has withheld the transfer of these funds entirely.