Palestinian government confirms decision to deduct salaries is temporary

The Palestinian cabinet denounced what it described as "the alleged campaign of disinformation" by some quarters in order to confuse the public opinion, claiming that the government did not fulfill its responsibilities towards its people in the Gaza Strip, and that it distinguishes between the West Bank and the Gaza Strip.

The cabinet stressed, during the weekly session chaired by Rami al-Hamdallah, Tuesday, that Israel bears responsibility for the suffering of Palestinian people in the Gaza Strip as a result of its unjust siege for the eleventh year in a row, after the black coup carried out by the movement "Hamas" and led to the fragmentation of the people and increase suffering.

"Hamas movement has exercised the work of the de facto government and imposed its control over the Gaza Strip and imposed the royalties under various names of duties and taxes in favor of its treasury and burdened the citizens and the trade in medicine, cement and other reconstruction materials," the cabinet added. The movement insisted since the formation of the National Accord Government to put obstacles and obstacles to prevent it from performing its functions, refusing to hand over ministries and government departments, and allow the return of staff to their places of work, the cabinet said.

The Palestinian Council of Ministers stressed the need for everyone to be courageous and acknowledge that the national reconciliation government has been wiped out since the first day of the latest Israeli aggression on the Gaza Strip to help our people by all means and capabilities and immediately after the aggression to hold the Cairo conference to mobilize the necessary funding for the reconstruction of the Gaza Strip.

"Everyone should know and acknowledge that this government has rearranged its priorities and worked to expand the tax base and improve tax collection in the West Bank, increasing its revenues from local revenues over the past years by 21% to about NIS 320 million per month." "The total amount of government revenues from customs and taxes on goods entering the Gaza Strip is NIS 10 million per month." "It also carried out a number of austerity measures until the security sector, so that under the guidance of the President of the Palestinian people in the Gaza Strip, shelter them and relieve their suffering and provide the basics A decent life for them, in light of the decline of external support to a large extent," the cabinet said.

The cabinet indicated that the total amount spent on the Gaza Strip since the coup was $ 17 billion, and the government has committed itself to paying salaries over the next 11 years to 24,500 civil servants and 34,000 military employees.

Prime Minister Rami al-Hamdallah said that the salary deduction is a freeze on part of the allowances, not a permanent decision, and will be disbursed as soon as budgets are available and Hamas responds to the initiative of the president, stressing that his government will not abandon the Gaza Strip, and will work to provide it with the required budgets.

On the other hand, the Council warned of the dangers and repercussions of calls by extremist Jewish organizations for large-scale incursions into Al-Aqsa Mosque on the eve of the Passover holiday by participating in the Passover slaughtering activities in the Umayyad palaces area south of the Al-Aqsa Mosque. They condemned the Israeli policy of incitement, which calls on settlers and extremists to engage in unprecedented and massive incursions at the same time as the policy of racial restrictions on worshipers and women and men, in addition to preventing them from reaching and praying at the Al-Aqsa Mosque.