A Palestinian official close to dismissed Fatah leader Mohamed Dahlan said that the Palestinian Authority (PA) cut the salaries of 200 military employees “because they support Dahlan”, the Anadolu Agency said yesterday.
The official, who spoke on condition of anonymity, said the names of around 200 military employees were not listed among the 60 per cent of the monthly salaries paid this week.
Because of the Israeli freeze of PA tax money, the authority was unable to pay full salaries this month. The PA employees received only 60 per cent of December’s salaries in the third week of January.
According to the official, the reason behind the salary cuts is political. He hinted that PA President Mahmoud Abbas is behind this.
Meanwhile, Samir Al-Mashharawi, one of Dahlan’s aides, confirmed the salary cuts and wrote on his Facebook page that PA President Mahmoud Abbas had cut the salaries of 220 employees.
“We started measures to setup a security network to pay for these employees in order to be able to feed their families,” Al-Mashharawi wrote. “This will be ready very soon.”
He accused Abbas of committing a “flagrant violation” of Palestinian law calling it “aggression” against the rights of the national fighters.
The PA has issued no comment on the issue.