Palestinian Prime Minister Mohammed Shtayyeh said his government would pay 60 percent of its employees’ salaries this month because of the ongoing financial crisis inflicted by Israeli measures.
Israel collects around $190 million a month in customs duties levied on goods destined for Palestinian markets that transit through Israeli ports, and then it transfers the money to the PA.
In February, it began deducting NIS 42 million (about $11.5 million) a month from tax revenues and decided to do so on a continuous basis during 2019, totaling NIS 504 million (about $ 138 million), an amount equivalent to that paid by the Authority to the families of martyrs and prisoners in 2018. In response, the Authority refused to receive any partial sums from Israel.
“Israel is still holding our money, and we still refuse to receive the deducted funds,” Shtayyeh said at the start of his weekly cabinet meeting. “We have received the first installment of Qatari assistance and loan. We thank them. Under the guidance of President Abu Mazen [Mahmoud Abbas], we will pay 60 percent of salaries this month.”
The Palestinian Authority received $300 million in grants and a loan from Qatar, as well as another $180 million earmarked for the Gaza Strip. This is the fifth month in which the Authority provides underpaid salaries to its employees, with expectations that the financial crisis will continue to worsen for at least two months.
A Palestinian-Israeli meeting last week failed to end the Palestinian tax revenue crisis.
Palestinian Authority Minister of Civil Affairs and Fatah Central Committee member Hussein al-Sheikh said ongoing talks with Israel about the seizure of Palestinian deducted funds did not make any progress.
The PA responded to Israel by adopting boycott measures, such as stopping financial transfers to Israeli hospitals.
