Israelis hand over Palestinian post – eight years late

ISRAEL has handed over eight years’ worth of undelivered letters and packages to the Palestinian postal service after blocking their release on security grounds.

Palestinian postal staff are working overtime to sort through ten tons of letters and packages.

The parcels, dating from between 2010 and this year, had been prevented by Israel from entering the West Bank via Jordan. They were released in a one-off deal, Palestinian officials said.

Letters, medicine, and even wheelchairs for the disabled were found in the sorting centre in the occupied West Bank city of Jericho. Palestinian photographs showed rooms filled with hundreds of blue and white post bags.

All goods intended for the West Bank and Gaza are controlled by Israel, and the Israeli postal service handles mail.

Palestinian officials have accused Israel of delaying a 2016 deal to allow Palestinians to receive international mail without it first being handled by Israel.