(Adds Clinton-Olmert call, paragraphs 5-7) JERUSALEM, Feb 5 (Reuters) - Israeli Prime Minister Ehud Olmert agreed on Thursday to allow the transfer of $43 million to the Gaza Strip to enable Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas's government to pay salaries, officials said. The amount was less than Abbas had requested. Israel has been under pressure for months from Middle East envoy Tony Blair, the World Bank and the International Monetary Fund to lift its restrictions on cash transfers from the occupied West Bank, where Abbas' government is based, to the Hamas-ruled Gaza Strip. They said Israel was undermining the Palestinian banking sector, making it harder for Gazans to cover basic needs and weakening Abbas's Western-backed government in Hamas' stronghold. Sources in Israel said U.S. Secretary of State Hillary Clinton telephoned Olmert to press him to release the money, describing this as the first instance of U.S. pressure on Israel since President Barack Obama took office on Jan. 20. Israeli media reported that Clinton had telephoned Olmert to thank him for agreeing to release the funds. A U.S. State Department official confirmed that Clinton and Olmert had spoken on Thursday but declined comment on the substance of the exchange. Since the end of Israel's 22-day Gaza offensive last month, Hamas has paid salaries to its own workers. But the head of Abbas' government, Prime Minister Salam Fayyad, said earlier this week he would be unable to do so because of the shortage of currency in the territory. Israeli officials said the 175 million shekels ($43 million) was tax money collected by Israel on behalf of the Palestinian Authority. "It belongs to the Palestinian Authority and will not go to Hamas," an official said. Israel did not say when the money would enter the Gaza Strip and did not say why it was less than the 237 million shekels ($58 million) requested by Fayyad. In December, Israel allowed armored trucks carrying $25 million to enter Gaza. (Additional reporting by Arshad Mohammed in Washington) (Reporting by Adam Entous; editing by Angus MacSwan)
A Lebanese journalist holds an anti-Israel placard during a protest in front of the Al Jazeera TV office in Beirut February 5, 2009, against the Israeli seizure of a freighter trying ...
