Israeli newspaper, Israel Today said that Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu decided to freeze additional 400 million NIS ($100 million) from the Palestinian tax revenues.

Newspaper said that the amount retained was the money was January tax revenues, and will be added to the 500 million NIS ($128 m) that Israel had frozen in December, making the amount of Palestinian tax revenues frozen about $228 million.

Sources close to Netanyahu told the newspaper that he promised continuous tax freeze until "Israel" forms strong punishment for the Palestinian leadership heading to the International Criminal Court in the Hague.

A few days after Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas announced that Palestine would join the International Criminal Court in December, and was promised to join onApril 1st, his Israeli Counterpart Benjamin Netanyahu announced that his country would stop transferring customs revenue to the Palestinian Authority as a punishment to the Palestinian move.

As a punishment, Israeli government on 9 January announced that it would freeze $128 million in Palestinian tax revenues in response to Palestine's accession to over 20 international treaties and organizations, including the Rome Statute and the ICC.

VAT taxes are earned by the Palestinian Authority and collected by Israel. Timely transfers of the VAT-taxes are essential to keeping economic and social stability in the West Bank. They constitute 70-percent of the Palestinian Authority's revenue and finance the bulk of salaries and public services in the West Bank such as hospitals and schools. The funds for December 2014 were scheduled to arrive during the first week of January. Palestinian leaders say 'Israel' has sent no direct communication to their government regarding the suspension of VAT taxes.