Though Israel will return the taxes it has been withholding to the Palestinian Authority (PA), PA President Mahmoud Abbas is still not pleased. He complained in a speech that Israel deducted the costs of utilities from the returned funds. "We are returning the money. Either they give it to us in full or we go to arbitration or to the court [International Criminal Court]. We will not accept anything else," he declared.
Israel provides the PA with a number of necessary services, including electricity, though repayment is often delayed or ignored. In February, Israel's electric company briefly cut power in some Palestinian cities to try and pressure the PA into paying its $492 million US bill.