The Israeli occupation government continues its illegal deductions, which violate all signed agreements, from Palestinian tax revenues (clearance funds) and refuses to return them, amounting to about 7.26 billion shekels.

The Ministry of Finance data showed that the deductions from the clearance funds under the name of Gaza Strip allocations amounted to approximately 2.83 billion shekels since the beginning of the war on the Strip on October 7, 2023, until the month of 20248, with an average of 257 million shekels per month, as Israel deducts these funds as a punitive step for the Palestinian National Authority’s refusal to stop disbursing Gaza Strip allocations, especially the salaries of government employees, most notably health and education employees.

She pointed out that despite this, the government continues to fulfill its obligations and duty to pay percentages of the salaries of employees in Gaza equally with government sector employees in the West Bank, including Jerusalem.

Regarding the deductions under the name of allowances for the families of martyrs and prisoners that the government pays to these families from February 2019 until August 2024, they reached 3.54 billion shekels, with an average of 53.6 million shekels per month, and Israel is still withholding these funds and refusing to release them.

In addition to withholding the equivalent of the Gaza Strip allocations, and the allocations for the families of martyrs and prisoners, which amounted to 6.36 billion shekels, Israel continues to refuse to transfer the Palestinian National Authority’s revenues from the departure tax on the crossings towards Jordan, which have accumulated over the years and exceeded 900 million shekels, bringing the total amount of deductions to approximately 7.26 billion shekels, according to data from the Ministry of Finance.

The Ministry of Finance data showed that Israeli deductions from clearance funds, in favor of (electricity, water, sewage, and hospitals), amounted to about 20.2 billion shekels, from 2012 until August 2024.

Israel refuses to audit the bills and deductions made from the clearing funds over the past years, including the cost of the electricity and water bill for the Gaza Strip and the direct connection points for some Palestinian areas with the Israeli side. For example, Israel has been deducting between 40-50 million shekels per month for the Gaza Strip’s consumption of electricity and water, while local companies have not transferred the money they collect from citizens. This continued for many years until last October, and the occupation’s decision to cut off electricity to Gaza as one of the punitive steps against our people in the Strip.

In a new attempt to plunder more of our people’s money, the Israeli Knesset recently approved the so-called “Compensation Law for the Families of Israeli Killed,” which came into effect in early June 2024. It allows the occupation government to deduct large sums of money, up to 10 million shekels, from the clearance funds under the pretext of transferring them to each “harmed” individual from these families, which will deepen the financial crisis and the government’s ability to fulfill its obligations.

The Palestinian government is leading a major international movement with international partners from various countries of the world to pressure the occupation to release our withheld funds without conditions, so that it can fulfill its obligations towards our people, especially in these difficult circumstances.