Information has spread on social media about the Israel informing the European Union that it will transfer withheld clearance funds 16 July 2025. The text reads: “Israel officially informs the European Union that it will transfer the clearance funds tomorrow.”
Kashif verified the information and found it to be inaccurate. Kashif contacted Shadi Othman, the official spokesperson for the European Union office in Palestine, who denied the information. He added that there is no specific date for the transfer of withheld clearance revenue funds to the Palestinian Authority, and confirmed that there is a European demand for them to be transferred to the Palestinian Authority’s treasury.
Sky News Arabia reported on 14 July 2025, that advanced contacts and negotiations are taking place between the European Union and Israel, aiming to bring humanitarian aid into the Gaza Strip through all its crossings, and to release Palestinian tax funds withheld by the Israeli occupation, estimated at approximately 8 billion shekels. Sky News added: “The negotiations include easing restrictions imposed on the movement of Palestinians in the West Bank, and stopping settler attacks on Palestinian villages, in exchange for some European Union countries backing down from the idea of imposing economic and trade sanctions on the Israeli occupation.”
The Palestinian Ministry of Finance clarified in a statement issued in January of this year that it had reached understandings to release a portion of the withheld Palestinian funds. The basic principles stipulated that 767 million shekels of the funds deposited in Norway would be used to pay for fuel to Israeli fuel companies, and a similar amount would be used to settle the debts owed to the Israeli Electricity Company by Palestinian distribution companies.
The statement indicated that the value of Israeli deductions from clearance revenues due to electricity debts accrued by distribution companies and local authorities until 2024 amounted to approximately 1.6 billion shekels, while the total annual deductions on electricity debts since 2012 amounted to approximately 12.5 billion shekels.
| Sources of Claim | Sources of Verification |
| Suleiman Al Hamarneh Qaryout Now Majed Nairat Majdi Abu Taqiya Halhul residents | Shadi Othman – Official Spokesperson for the European Union Office in Palestine, Sky News Arabia Channel Palestinian Ministry of Finance |
