Palestinians’ funding to be cut

JERUSALEM — Israel announced plans to deduct from tax funds it collects for the Palestinians to compensate Israelis living near the Gaza Strip who have fallen victim to a wave of arson attacks. The Israeli military, meanwhile, said troops killed a Palestinian attempting to cross into Israel from Gaza on Monday.

Israel has been battling fires caused by kites rigged with incendiary devices or attached to burning rags launched by Palestinians in Gaza that have damaged forests and torched agricultural fields. The fires have disrupted daily life in communities near the Gaza Strip.

Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu tweeted that he had asked for the deduction.

The kites have been flown by Gazans who have staged weekly protests since late March during which more than 115 Palestinians have been killed by Israeli army fire. On Monday, the Israeli military said it fired at two Palestinians who were attempting to breach the border fence, killing one of them. The military said they had damaged the fence and were carrying an ax.

The protests, led by the Islamic militant group Hamas that rules Gaza, are meant to oppose an 11-year-old Israeli-Egyptian blockade on the tiny coastal strip that was imposed when Hamas seized Gaza from the Western-backed Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas.

The Palestinian Authority slammed Netanyahu’s order, saying it would violate past agreements signed with Israel and called it “robbery and cowardly aggression” against the Palestinians.

Israel collects some taxes and customs on behalf of the Palestinians, which it transfers monthly. It has previously threatened to withhold the tax money over Palestinian actions it opposes.

The statement from Netanyahu’s office didn’t disclose how much would be deducted.