6/6/2024–|Last updated: 6/6/202411:02 PM (Mecca time)
The Israeli occupation army warned the government that its policy of cutting off funding to the Palestinian Authority may push the occupied West Bank into a third “intifada,” according to the Israeli public broadcaster (Radio Kan) on Thursday.
This warning comes as the war in the Gaza Strip enters its ninth month, highlighting the increasingly deteriorating economic situation in the West Bank, where hundreds of thousands of workers have lost their jobs in Israel and Palestinian Authority employees have not received their wages, even partially, for months.
The West Bank, inhabited by 2.8 million Palestinians and 670,000 Israeli settlers, is subject to Israeli military occupation, and the internationally recognized Palestinian Authority exercises limited self-rule.
Israel has prevented Palestinian workers from entering from the West Bank since the start of Operation Al-Aqsa Flood, which was launched by the Palestinian resistance against the occupation forces in the Gaza Strip led by the Islamic Resistance Movement (Hamas) on October 7 last year.
Palestinian Finance Ministry data stated that Israel is withholding about 6 billion shekels ($1.61 billion) in total from the tax revenues it collects on behalf of the Palestinian Authority, which exacerbates the significant financial pressure that leads to increasing difficulties as donor funds decline.
Nasr Abdel Karim, an economic expert and lecturer at the Arab American University in Ramallah, said that the Palestinian Authority was able to compensate for some of the shortfall by obtaining private loans, but this will not last for a long time.
He added, “This month, the authority had the option to pay half a salary by taking a loan from a bank or a fund, as some media reported. Will this option be available next month or the next?”
Even before the Gaza war, the escalation of violence raised fears of a third intifada similar to the previous two intifadas in 1987 and 2000.
The Israeli Broadcasting Authority quoted an army memo as saying that tensions resulting from financial restrictions threaten to transform the West Bank from a secondary theater in the war into a primary theater.
The army became increasingly concerned after economic difficulties fueled the violence that escalated throughout the West Bank, where hundreds of Palestinians were martyred as a result of occupation forces’ raids on their areas and homes.
When asked about the report, the army referred Reuters to the internal security service (Shin Bet), which declined to comment. A Defense Ministry spokeswoman said she was not aware of the document.
But an Israeli official, who requested to remain anonymous, confirmed the existence of the memo, saying that it had been circulated among several government ministries, the army, and security agencies “more than a week ago.”
Tax returns
The Palestinian Authority has been engaged in a bitter confrontation for months with Bezalel Smotrich, the Israeli finance minister who belongs to the extreme right, and who refuses to spend tax revenues and accuses the Palestinian Authority of supporting Hamas.
Badie Dweik, an employee at the Ministry of Labor, said that public sector employees were already receiving no more than 70 to 80% of their salaries before the October 7 attack.
He added that after October 7, they started paying 50%, and this is of course difficult to adapt to, and there are many employees who suffer from a lot of debt, so the situation is very miserable.
The memorandum recommended a series of measures, including opening more crossings between Israel and the West Bank to allow Palestinian citizens of Israel to shop more easily, in addition to testing the entry, under Israeli supervision, of a limited number of Palestinian workers.
Muhammad Abu Al-Rub, spokesman for the Palestinian government, said that the tax revenues that Israel withholds from the Palestinian Authority are equal to 70% of the general budget revenues, and described them as part of a general campaign against the Palestinians in the West Bank and Gaza Strip.
He added, “There is a severe financial blockade imposed by Israel on the Palestinian people and the Palestinian leadership, as is the case in the war in the Gaza Strip.”
