The Palestinian Authority is unable to pay the salaries of its employees before Eid Al -Fitr …
The Palestinian authority announced Thursday that it would not be able to pay the wages of its employees for the month of February before Eid Al -Fitr, which falls at the beginning of next week, due to the failure of the Israeli occupation authorities to transfer tax funds and customs fees.
The Palestinian Ministry of Finance said in a statement: “Regarding employee wages, due to the failure and intention of the Occupation Government not to transfer the compensation funds for the month of February / 2025 until this time, the Ministry of Finance announces that the February salary will not be rejected before Eid Al -Fitr.”
Israel is responsible for collecting taxes and customs duties belonging to the Palestinian authority in accordance with an agreement concluded in 1994 and by granting exclusive control in Israel of the borders of the Palestinian territories.
According to economic experts, the payments collected by the occupation authorities represent 60% of the revenues of the authority with financial difficulties.
The value of this tax amounts to approximately 400 million shekels ($ 120 million), after Israel, deduces the amounts related to electricity and water prices.
“The occupation holds seven billion shekels of Palestinian tax revenue from 2019 to February 2025,” added the ministry’s press release.
According to a source from the Palestinian Ministry of Finance, “the total of what the Occupation authorities have detain every month since 2019 includes 52 million shekels for prisoners, and more than 200 million shekels were allocated to the Gaza Strip, and the Occupation Authorities began to resolve them for compensation after the seventh October.”
The number of employees working in the Palestinian Authority Institutions is estimated at around 144,000, to which around 50,000 workers are added to them who receive wages under other names, according to a reliable source from the Ministry of Finance.
“The monthly salary bill amounts to around a billion and 100 million shekels (about $ 3 billion),” said the ministry manager, who preferred not to be identified.
Since 2021, employees working in the Palestinian government sector have not received their full salary due to the irregularity of the transfer of the value of the Israeli occupation authorities.
The authorities of the occupation justify their cessation to transfer the value of the Treasury tax of the Palestinian Authority, continuing to pay the wages of the authority of the Palestinian prisoners in Israeli occupation prisons or those which are martyred or injured during the confrontations or operations of the Israeli occupation army and which the occupation forces describe as “terrorists”.
On February 11, the Palestinian Authority announced the abolition of the financial allowance system to families of people who were arrested or murdered by Israeli agencies.
A spokesperson for the Israeli Ministry of Occupation, Urin Marmistin, said, commenting on the decision: “It is a new tip of the Palestinian authority which intends to continue to push terrorists and their families through other channels.” (Agencies)
