Ramallah – Ma’an – Data from the Ministry of Finance indicate the seriousness of the financial situation of the Palestinian National Authority, as a result of the Israeli occupation government continuing to withhold the funds of the Palestinian people, and the failure of any Arab or foreign support amounts to reach the government budget until the end of the month of Ramadan.
Looking at the financial data and the type of deductions, the financial crisis that the Palestinian Authority is suffering from is primarily a national crisis, as Israel practices financial blackmail to force us to stop paying the salaries of prisoners and martyrs, and to stop financial transfers to the Gaza Strip.
Overcoming the stifling financial crisis depends on the success of the efforts made by the government with international institutions to pressure Israel to release our money, and stop new deductions for the Gaza Strip’s share of the budget, and other deductions.
Details of Israeli financial deductions from the clearing house
According to Ministry of Finance data, Israel is still withholding about 6 billion shekels to date, from the funds of the Palestinian people, under the pretext of supporting the families of the martyrs and wounded, as well as new deductions from the budget for the Gaza Strip’s allocations.
Although Israel withholds these funds, the Palestinian Authority insists on paying these allocations to those entitled to them, and thus the cost becomes double on the state budget, if the Authority pays them to those entitled to them, while Israel deducts similar amounts from the clearance.
In addition, Israel annually deducts more than a billion shekels from clearance funds under the pretext of deducting electricity and water consumption, especially in the Gaza Strip. The Ministry of Finance does not recover any of this money, which the Hamas movement used to collect from citizens and refrains from transferring it to the Ministry of Finance, according to Ministry data in this regard.
On the other hand, the clearance va
lue decreased by 60% during the past months due to Israel increasing the percentage of its deductions from our people’s money, in addition to the decline in the general economic situation, and thus the decline in revenues.
Regarding Arab and foreign support, Ministry of Finance data indicate that no Arab or foreign support amounts have yet reached the government budget, with expectations that some support will arrive soon, and government revenues have also declined due to the economic situation and Israel’s cuts, which has increased the financial burden on the authority. Palestinian.
In order to alleviate the serious financial situation, the government, in its previous session and under the directives of the President, approved a series of austerity steps and reducing government spending, the most prominent of which are: stopping the purchase of new vehicles, overnighting government vehicles in ministries and institutions after work, and stopping public purchase requests. Except for urgent needs, in additio
n to other items to reduce spending and austerity, and the government has plans for financial stability until the end of the year.
International pressure on Israel to release the seized funds
The Palestinian government conducted dozens of meetings and contacts with representatives of countries and international institutions to pressure Israel to release the currently withheld funds. Its contacts, according to government press statements, focused on pressuring the release of one billion and 765 million shekels held in Norway. This amount is equal to the Gaza Strip’s share of the general budget, which Israel deducts. From the clearance since last October, in addition to the crossing fees, which Israel has been collecting for years and does not transfer to the Ministry of Finance, which amount to about 900 million shekels.
In addition to the previous amounts, there are other unspecified amounts due to Israel’s refusal to disclose some details of the seized Palestinian funds.
According to Ministry of Finance
data, the new Palestinian government assumed its duties with a public debt exceeding $11 billion, after adding the debts owed to the Public Retirement Authority and the debts of foreign banking institutions, in addition to arrears to public employees, arrears due to suppliers and service providers, and the debts of local banks.
Source: Maan News Agency
