Israel to pay $800m loan to PA

A man walks past a graffiti mural depicting a Palestinian woman clad in a keffiyeh scarf next to a depiction of a key above the Dome of the Rock, in the Jenin camp for Palestinian refugees in the north of the occupied West Bank on September 10, 2020 [JAAFAR ASHTIYEH/AFP via Getty Images]

Israel is set to grant a loan worth $800 million to the Palestinian Authority (PA) to help cope with its financial crisis, Gulf News reported Israeli Channel 12 revealing on Friday.

The PA will receive the loan in instalments until the end of the year, the Israeli TV channel disclosed.

The PA has been suffering a serious financial crisis due to the Israeli government deciding on 11 May to deduct 597 million shekels from the tax revenues collected by Israel on behalf of the PA.

Two weeks ago, PA Prime Minister Mohammad Shtayyeh said that the total amount deducted by Israel since 2019 is 851 million shekels, in addition to 51 million shekels deducted monthly.

According to Shtayyeh, this poses many challenges for the PA because the donors have not paid their dues since the start of this year.

He noted that his government is obliged to borrow money from Palestinian banks to meet the demands of the Palestinian people and the pledges of his government.

Read: Palestine slams ‘illegal’ Israeli deduction of tax revenues

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