Israel froze $127 million of Palestinians' tax revenues Friday after the Palestinian authority president signed a bid to join the International Criminal Court (ICC).
The Daily Mail reported that Israel is also considering filing war crime suits overseas against Palestine in response to the ICC application.
Palestinian Prime Minister Rami Hamdallah said that the money from the tax revenues had not been received Friday as planned and would make it difficult to pay civil servants' salaries.
This is not the first time Israel has delayed payments to Palestine in retaliation for Palestinian actions.
According to the Daily Mail, Israel halted tax payments in 2012 after Palestine won a UN vote recognizing it as a non-member state.
Israel also halted tax payments twice in 2011 -- once after President Mahmud Abbas reconciled with the Islamist militant group Hamas, and again when Palestinians won admission to UNESCO (the United Nations Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organization).
CNN reported that Palestine seeks statehood, but the UN Security Council rejected its resolution for Palestinian statehood by 2017 and asking for the withdrawal of Israelis from the West Bank and East Jerusalem.
As a result, Palestine made a bid to join the ICC and pursue criminal charges against Israel.
According to CNN, the U.S. State Department thinks Palestine's move to join the ICC is counter-productive.
The U.S. said this action will only escalate tensions between Israel and Palestine. Furthermore, the State Department said the only path for peace is direct negotiations between the two.
