Chief Palestinian negotiator Mr Saeb Erakat said he will meet Israeli Foreign Minister Mr Shimon Peres today to discuss a further transfer of Palestinian funds frozen by Israel. "We want to see a systematic transfer of funds without any conditions and I think this will happen tonight in my meeting with Mr Shimon Peres," Mr Erakat told reporters after meeting US Middle East envoy Mr William Burns.
He said the talks would touch on further Israeli withdrawals from reoccupied West Bank Palestinian cities, as was done for Bethlehem under a security deal in August.
Meanwhile, a 13-year-old Palestinian child was killed by machine-gun fire from an Israeli tank in the northern West Bank town of Jenin today, Palestinian medical sources said.
Ahmed Jafar died after being hit in the chest when a crowd of Palestinian youths pelted an Israeli armoured column with stones, as around 20 Israeli vehicles entered the town, Palestinian officials said.
There were no other injuries in the shooting, the sources said, adding that the curfew in the reoccupied town was not in place.
Earlier this month, Israel transferred $14.7 million in frozen customs duties to the Palestinian Authority in what was the third such transfer in as many months.
However, the $42 million already transferred is a small percentage of the total amount, estimated by Israel at $420 million and by the International Monetary Fund to be about $600 million.
Israel froze the funds at the start of the intifada two years ago, saying the money could be used to finance anti-Israeli attacks.
AFP