Israel releases tax money to Abbas before unity talks

Israel said today it had paid £50m (€76.2m) in frozen tax funds to the Palestinians and rescinded a contentious decision to authorise a new West Bank settlement, strengthening moderate president Mahmoud Abbas’ hand ahead of crucial weekend talks in Damascus with his Hamas rivals.

Prime minister Ehud Olmert’s office said the payment, the first such transfer since the militant Islamic Hamas won control of the Palestinian government last March, was made last night.