Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu on Sunday ordered the National Security Council to explore deducting the value of the damage caused by kite terrorism to communities near the Gaza border from the taxes Israel collects on behalf of the Palestinian Authority.
The 1993 Oslo Accords set up a mechanism under which Israel collects value added taxes and customs fees on behalf of the PA, currently about $100 million per month.
The Prime Minister's Office did not disclose how much would be deducted. Army Radio put the initial figure at 5 million shekels ($1.4 million).
Israel Fire and Rescue Services said 350 fires have been sparked in communities near the border since the Palestinians launched their incendiary kites campaign in late April.
Some 7,000 acres of forest and agricultural land on the Israeli side of the border have been reduced to ash, causing tens of millions of shekels in damage and affecting every community in the area.
Israeli officials said the money deducted from the PA's tax funds would go directly to the communities harmed by the kite terrorism and for the rehabilitation of the flora and fauna in the area.
In early May, a bill that would slash funding to the Palestinian Authority corresponding with the amount it pays out to convicted terrorists and their families passed its first Knesset reading.
