Israel freezes funds destined for Palestinians

ISRAEL’S cabinet yesterday approved an immediate freeze on the transfer of hundreds of millions of dollars to the Palestinian Authority, in a first response to Hamas militants’ takeover of the Palestinian parliament.

With the Hamas-dominated parliament sworn in on Saturday, and the group tipped to form the next Palestinian government, the Palestinian Authority has become “a terrorist authority”, and all funds to it must be halted, acting Israeli Prime Minister Ehud Olmert told the cabinet.

Israel, he added, “won’t have contacts with a government in which Hamas takes part.”