PA pays 25% of salaries of its employees in Gaza

Palestinian Authority (PA) paid 25 per cent of the salaries of its employees in the Gaza Strip, sources said yesterday.

The PA slashed the salaries of its employees in the Gaza Strip at the beginning of 2017 as part of a package of sanctions imposed by President Mahmoud Abbas against the besieged enclave.

Last week, Fatah officials revealed that the PA would increase salary payments by 25 per cent for its employees in Gaza.

A report by the World Bank last year revealed that unemployment in Gaza had reached more than 50 per cent, while 70 per cent of young people are jobless.

OPINION: Will Qatar’s money ease Gaza’s crises?

“A combination of war, isolation, and internal rivalries has left Gaza in a crippling economic state and exacerbated the human distress,” said Marina Wes, the World Bank’s director for the region.

“A situation where people struggle to make ends meet, suffer from worsening poverty, rising unemployment and deteriorating public services such as healthcare, water and sanitation, calls for urgent, real and sustainable solutions,” Wes added.