PA could collapse if Israel deducts martyrs’ funds, UN warns

UN Middle East envoy Nickolay Mladenov has warned Israel that the Palestinian Authority(PA) could collapse if stipends paid to Palestinians killed by Israel are deducted from tax revenue Israel collects on behalf of the PA, Israel Hayom reported yesterday.

In May, the Israeli Knesset approved a law that allows the government to deduct the stipends the PA pays to the families of the Palestinians killed or imprisoned by Israel from the tax revenues it collects on behalf of the PA.

According to the newspaper, European diplomatic officials sent a message to Israel saying that implementing the law would bring the PA, which is already in a dire financial situation, to its “breaking point” and could cause a complete “system failure”.

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In their message, Israel Hayom reported, the European officials said: “[The] PA already has a $1 billion deficit, and if the law is implemented, donor countries would stop paying for the PA’s daily operations and instead would fund humanitarian projects.”

However, the newspaper warned, “while foreign officials have decided to raise their concerns with” Israel in this regard, “they are not pressuring Israel at this time.”