Palestinian Finance Minister Estephan Anton Salameh has warned that Israel is seeking to “zero out” Palestinian clearance revenues withheld by Tel Aviv.
“Israel’s move to cut banking relations with the Palestinians would mean crossing the last red line,” Salameh told a news conference at his ministry headquarters in the occupied West Bank city of Ramallah on Wednesday.
He said Palestinian funds withheld by Israel amount to around $6 billion, adding that the financial crisis facing the Palestinian Authority has continued for 15 months because of Israel’s withholding of the revenues.
“All the crises we face as a government and people aim to destroy the Palestinian entity and prevent the establishment of the state,” he said.
Salameh said the Palestinian government needs around 1.5 billion shekels ($445 million) monthly, while current spending does not exceed 850 million shekels ($252 million), which he described as the “bare minimum.”
The crisis is expected to worsen in the coming period amid Israel’s elections, he warned, holding the international community responsible for failing to provide sufficient financial support to the Palestinian government.
“International support is not enough under these exceptional circumstances,” he said, adding that the government looks forward to more financial assistance from other countries.
Clearance revenues are taxes collected by Israel on behalf of the Palestinian Authority on goods entering the Palestinian territories, before being transferred monthly to the Palestinian Finance Ministry under the 1994 Paris Economic Protocol.
The funds make up around 56 percent of total Palestinian public revenues.
Since 2019, Israel has deducted amounts from the clearance revenues under various pretexts before fully halting transfers around a year ago, triggering a financial crisis that has prevented the Palestinian Authority from paying full salaries to its employees.
