JERUSALEM (JTA) — Israel will allow the transfer of $25.5 million in Israeli shekels from banks in the West Bank to the Gaza Strip.
The transfer was approved Wednesday by Defense Minister Ehud Barak. A cash crisis in Gaza reportedly has caused several banks to shut down and prevented the Palestinian Authority from paying the salaries of some 70,000 Gaza employees.
Palestinian Authority Prime Minister Salam Fayyad and Bank of Israel Governor Stanley Fischer both appealed to Barak to agree to the transfer, which is worth about $6.5 million.
Armored trucks will bring the cash to Gaza on Sunday, The Associated Press reported.
Israel has not allowed cash into the strip since October, part of a blockade on the territory since the terrorist Hamas organization took over more than a year ago.
