The Palestinian Ministry of Finance said that today, Monday, it will pay 70% of the salaries of Palestinian Authority employees in the civil and military sectors for the month of November, amid its continuing financial crisis.
The ministry said in a statement, “Employees’ salaries for the month of November will be paid today, Monday, at a rate of no less than 70% and a minimum of 3,500 shekels ($953).”
She added, “With this equation, more than 70% of employees will receive their full salary, and they are employees whose salaries do not exceed 3,500 shekels.”
She continued, “The rest of the outstanding dues to date are owed to the employees and will be disbursed when financial capabilities permit.”
The Palestinian Authority relies mainly on tax funds to pay the salaries of its employees and cover its operating expenses. The bulk of this money is collected by Israel on behalf of the Authority.
The past few years have witnessed a delay in transferring these funds, which led to the inability of the Palestinian Authority to fulfill its financial obligations, whether to its employees or suppliers from the private sector, after the Israeli government’s decision to withhold part of these funds.
Israel collects tax money on goods that pass through it to the Palestinian market in exchange for a 3% commission, given that it controls all the crossings that connect the West Bank to the outside world.
The Palestinian Authority says that the total amount of clearing funds held by Israel has reached more than 6 billion shekels ($1.6 billion).
During the year 2023, Israel decided to withhold the value of the funds paid by the Palestinian Authority to the families of martyrs and prisoners, and demanded that the Palestinian Authority not disburse funds to them.
Since November 2021, public employees in Palestine, numbering approximately 146,000, have been receiving reduced wages, due to the government’s inability to provide their entire monthly wage bill.
While the entire public sector wage bill (employees, retirees, semi-salaries such as allowances for prisoners, the wounded, the families of martyrs, and other subsidies) amounts to approximately one billion shekels per month ($270 million).
