JERUSALEM: The Gaza war is speeding up Israel’s “annexation” of the Palestinian economy, say analysts, who argue it has been hobbled for decades by ag...
Palestinians walk near the damaged building of Bank of Palestine following an Israeli ground operation, amid the ongoing conflict between Israel and Hamas, in Gaza City, February 10, 2024. - REUTERSPIX
Israel is tightening the noose on the Palestinian Authority, which rules parts of the West Bank, by withholding tax revenues it collects on its behalf, economist Adel Samara told AFP. “Without these funds, the Palestinian Authority struggles to pay the salaries of its civil servants and its running costs,“ said Taher al-Labadi, a researcher at the French Institute for the Near East.
The Palestinian prime minister Mohammed Mustafa bemoaned an “unprecedented financial crisis” during which his government’s deficit had soared to $7 billion, more than a third of the territories’ GDP according to the latest budgetary figures.The Paris Protocol, like the 1993 and 1995 Oslo agreements they were signed under, were meant to be in effect for five years, until the creation of a Palestinian state.
Before any factory or shop requiring access to these resources can be built in the West Bank, Israel must grant authorisation, he said. “Netanyahu is putting pressure on the Palestinians and signalling to the authority that the levers of the Palestinian economy are in hands,“ he said.“Netanyahu believes that he will weaken the authority and make it accept political concessions” when a peace agreement eventually has to be hammered out, he said.
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