19/05/2006 (Agence Europe) - The Israeli government has agreed to re-start payment of some of the 55 million dollars in taxes and other Customs duties it collects on behalf of the Palestinian Authority, but only through the provisional international mechanism that the Quartet charged the European Union with devising, according to AFP, quoting sources in Jerusalem. After Hamas came to power, Israel suspended payment of this money. On Monday, at the General Affairs/External Relations Council, EU Foreign Ministers pressed Israel to re-start payments to avoid a major humanitarian crisis in the Palestinian territories. This money will be used exclusively for the salaries of Palestinian doctors and nurses who have not been paid for two months, say the sources quoted by AFP. Commissioner Benita Ferrero-Waldner said on Monday that the new financial mechanism to meet the “basic human needs” of the Palestinian people without going through the Palestinian government could be in place some time in June (see EUROPE 9192, p4).