Abbas prepares for tour of West Bank 

Fatah, PLO and Palestinian Authority (PA) President Mahmoud Abbas is preparing for popular meetings, field visits across the occupied West Bank, member of Fatah’s Revolutionary Council Bayan Tabib told Al-Watan Voice yesterday.

Tabib said that Abbas had decided to carry out these meetings and visits in order to interact with people directly.

No date was given for when the tour would begin but Tabib said it was happening very soon.

Abbas will begin his tour as Palestinians suffer under a stifling economy with unemployment at 18 per cent in the occupied West Bank. Jenin and Bethlehem governorates registered the highest rates of Palestinians who are out of work in the occupied West Bank with a rate of about 21 per cent, followed by Hebron governorate with a rate of about 20 per cent. The lowest rate in the West Bank was in Qalqiliya governorate with a rate of about seven per cent followed by Jerusalem Governorate with a rate of 11 per cent.

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In July Israel’s Finance Ministry approved a bill which allowed is electricity company to collect half a billion shekels ($141 million) from Palestinian tax money collected by Israel.

This, in addition to tax deductions already approved by Israel at the start of the year, has led to the Palestinian government faces a financial crisis.