DHAKA: Arab foreign ministers meeting in Cairo have renewed their commitment to give $100m in monthly aid to the government of Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas.

The ministers also urged Arab governments falling behind on payments to the Palestinians to swiftly come up with the money, according to the Associated Press news agency, reports the Al-Jazeera.

The pledge, made on Wednesday in the Egyptian capital, came hours after Israel announced a partial freeze in high-level contacts with the Palestinians in retaliation for their bid sign international conventions.

Under interim peace deals, Israel collects and transfers to the Palestinian Authority (PA) some $100m a month in taxes on goods imported into the Palestinian territories. Israel has previously frozen the payments during times of heightened tensions.

Though Israel did not mention such measures on Wednesday, Palestinian Foreign Minister Riyad al-Malki said the Israeli government had "indicated" it would withhold the revenues. He did not say how that message had been delivered.

"We are committed as Palestinians and Arabs to the negotiation process and the April 29 date and continuing to deal with the efforts that the American administration and John Kerry are making to find a way out of this crisis," he said.

Benjamin Netanyahu, the Israeli prime minister, on Wednesday ordered a halt to high-level contacts with the Palestinians on non-security related issues, but exempted his chief peace negotiator from the ban, government officials said.

One Israeli official called Netanyahu`s order  a response to "the Palestinians" grave violation of their commitments in the framework of the peace talks" - an apparent reference to their signing of 15 international conventions last week.

The edict came a day after John Kerry, the US secretary of state, suggested that Israel`s announcement on April 1 of plans to build about 700 housing units in East Jerusalem was the immediate cause of peace talks plunging into crisis.

Al Jazeera`s Stefanie Dekker, reporting from Ramallah in the West Bank, noted that the two sides had not yet halted talks and had continued peace efforts.

"Netanyahu`s announcement will not have any impact on the ground, but it certainly shows Israel wants to complicate matters and there is a fear of escalation," she said.

BDST: 09 18 HRS, APR 10, 2014