PA minister calls on Arab states to activate financial safety net to challenge Israeli plans

The Palestinian Authority’s Economy Minister has called on the member states of the Arab League’s Economic and Social Council to activate the financial safety network to challenge Israeli plans and support the steadfastness of the Palestinian people in light of the genocidal war against them in the Gaza Strip, ongoing since last October.

Mohammad Alamour made his call during the Council session in Bahrain in advance of the Arab Summit scheduled to be held next Thursday.

Alamour called on member states, organisations, development agencies and national and international funds to coordinate with the government of the State of Palestine, in cooperation with the League’s General Secretariat, to contribute to the rescue of the Palestinian people and to supply the humanitarian relief campaign in these exceptional circumstances.

The minister stressed the need to finance and participate in the implementation of the emergency response plan prepared by the State of Palestine to address the repercussions of the Israeli aggression and the crime of genocide that is being committed by the occupation state of Israel in the Gaza Strip.

“The goal of the Israeli aggression is to liquidate the Palestinians, destroy their infrastructure, and separate the West Bank from the Gaza Strip in order to kill the Palestinian dream,” said Alamour. “We will continue to move in all international forums to hold the occupying state accountable, and hold it liable in all ways and means to ensure that it does not escape punishment, and that it bears the consequences of its aggression against our people, leading to ending this occupation, and recognising the right of our people to self-determination in a sovereign Palestinian state that is a full member at the UN, with Jerusalem as its capital.”

World Bank experts have estimated the cost of direct damages from the Israeli aggression on Gaza at $18.5 billion in terms of buildings and facilities during the first four months of the war alone. That is equivalent to 97 per cent of the combined gross domestic product of the West Bank and Gaza Strip in 2022.

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