"I am particularly concerned about threats by Israel to take actions that would cut off Palestinian banks from Israeli banks," Yellen said at a news conference at the start of a meeting of finance ministers from the Group of Seven (G7) leading industrial nations in Stresa, northeastern Italy. "These banking channels are essential for transactions that allow for the import of about $8 billion (€7.37 billion) from Israel, including electricity, water, fuel and food, and facilitate about $2 billion (€1.84 billion) in exports each year on which the Palestinians rely for their livelihoods," she said. Yellen said she had raised the issue with Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu. "I believe that cutting off the Palestinian banks from Israeli banks would create a humanitarian crisis," the US official said, adding that she expected the issue to be raised during the G7 ministerial meeting, which includes Britain, Canada, France, Germany, Italy, Japan, the United States and the European Union. "I would expect that other countries would express their concern about the impact of such a decision on the West Bank economy," she said. "I think it would also have very negative consequences for Israel." Yellen also expressed concern about Israel's withholding of tax revenues it collects on behalf of the Palestinian Authority, which it is obliged to transfer under the 1994 Oslo Accords. Israel has withheld all such tax revenues since an October 7, 2023 Hamas attack, saying it refuses to bankroll the Islamist movement that has ruled the Gaza Strip since 2007 and which it considers a "terrorist organisation." Read Also: Serviços secretos avisaram Netanyahu que protestos "beneficiariam inimigos" (Portuguese version)