The Council of Ministers confirmed the intensification of legal and international action to invalidate the occupation’s measures to seize 46 thousand dunams since the beginning of the year, including 24 thousand dunams of state land.

At the forefront of these government moves is the recruitment of 8 law firms within the 1948 territories to defend the rights of our people in approximately 3,000 cases brought before Israeli courts.

Last year also witnessed an unprecedented wave of land seizures, reaching about 50 thousand dunams according to data from the Wall and Settlement Resistance Commission. In addition, the government’s efforts to follow up on demolition and seizure cases against thousands of Jerusalemites by continuing to contract with more than 10 specialized law firms.

Under the continuous directives of President Abbas, the government is working hard to mobilize more international support to stop the crimes of the occupation against our people and their capabilities, to ensure the entry of more aid shipments into the Strip, and to implement the advisory opinion of the International Court of Justice, which rules that the occupation is illegal and that its effects must be removed, while warning at the same time of the continuous calls by Israeli officials to expel and displace our people and reoccupy the Strip and return colonialism to it.

On the other hand, the government confirmed, through the Embassy of the State of Palestine in Damascus, that it is following up on the conditions of our people present on Syrian territory to check on them and provide all possible assistance.

In addition, the Council of Ministers praised the efforts of the security establishment in preserving societal security and peace, and enhancing the steadfastness of our people, especially in light of the difficult circumstances we are going through.

In another context, the Cabinet discussed the memorandum of understanding between the Ministry of Finance and the Jerusalem Electricity Company to regulate the payment of electricity purchases, debts and the financial relationship with the government, in a way that contributes to stopping the Israeli side from deducting the debts of the purchase price of electricity for the Jerusalem Electricity Company from the clearing revenues.

This memorandum comes within the government's plan to address the problem of net lending that has accumulated for many years, which burdens public finances, increases the occupation's deductions from clearance funds, and exacerbates the crises of local authorities. The Ministry of Finance has formed a specialized unit to address net lending, in addition to a specialized committee headed by the Prime Minister, which holds a weekly meeting to follow up on plans to address net lending, which will have a positive impact on improving the quality of services provided to our people.

Prime Minister Mohammad Mustafa instructed the Ministry of Finance, the Energy and Natural Resources Authority, and the Ministry of Local Government to intensify work over the next few weeks to complete the organization of the financial relationship with each of: the Northern Electricity Distribution Company, the Tubas Electricity Company, the Hebron Electricity Company, the Southern Electricity Company, and all electricity distributors from the local authorities, as it constitutes a national priority to prepare electricity distributors for the transition phase to renewable energy sources, and the urgent necessity to stop the severe financial bleeding in this vital and important sector, which has become a threat to the financial stability of the government and the ability to continue supplying electricity to our people.

It is worth noting that the Israeli deductions from the clearance revenues under the item of electricity debts on the distribution companies and electricity distributors from the local authorities alone amounted to about 1.3 billion shekels since the beginning of this year until the end of October, and about 12.2 billion shekels since 2012, which, along with other deductions from the clearance revenues, which amounted to about 65%, affected the ability of the Palestinian government to fulfill its financial obligations towards employees and the private sector, and caused great harm to the Palestinian economy.

In addition, the Cabinet approved the governance plan for non-ministerial government institutions, which is based on reviewing the work and jurisdiction of 54 non-ministerial government institutions. During the past eight months of the government’s term, the work of 13 institutions has been governed, and work is being completed on the governance of the remaining institutions, as part of the government’s plan to improve the quality of services, rationalize expenditures, and governance.

In order to ease traffic congestion on the street adjacent to Jalazone camp, the Council of Ministers approved the appointment of 10 employees on temporary contracts to regulate traffic.