Elections:

As everyone knows, the general elections will be held on 22 May 2021. Accordingly, the Cabinet calls on citizens eligible to vote to register/ update their current information. The government calls on various national actors and frameworks to synergize by putting the democratic life in Palestine on its natural path and achieving the desired historic national achievement. We are before a real opportunity for a new beginning that injects fresh blood into our political and legislative life and opens horizons for the young generation. Here, I call on press organizations and journalists that wish to cover the elections to initiate their registration with the Ministry of Information. Civil society institutions wanting to participate in the internal monitoring should also ensure registering with the Interior Ministry.

We hope that the Palestinian factions meeting, to be held in Cairo next week, will be successful.

COVID-19:

The statistics and figures related to COVID-19 reflect a sharp decline in the number of infections, bed occupancy rates in hospitals, and the need for intensive care units and ventilators. Experts' reports have indicated that the implemented precautionary measures, including partial lockdowns, limiting large social gatherings at weddings and funerals, significantly impacted this decline. However, there are other worrying signs that we need to watch, namely the new strains of COVID-19, which are rapidly spreading. Therefore, committing to precautionary measures is extremely necessary, accordingly: (1) We submitted a recommendation to H.E. President Mahmoud Abbas to extend the state of emergency for another thirty days. (2) We will continue implementing the current procedures in force for another two weeks.

The government will receive the first batch of 50,000 vaccines from several sources, the most important of which is COVAX. Accordingly, the vaccination campaign will start in the middle of the current month. We also expect the first batch of vaccines at the end of February/ beginning of next month.

The Ministry of Health was directed to prepare a medical protocol for the upcoming electoral process.

Gaza:

Last year, the government began reviewing the Gaza Strip situation and found that the problems are divided into two parts. The first requires reconciliation (to be hopefully achieved after the elections). For two years, we have been working on solving the second problem, (which revolves around the financial situation) and we will continue addressing it per the following:

The Financial retirement:  We found that around 6,800 employees were transferred to financial retirement without reaching their formal retirement state, and most of them are on-the-job. As you know, President Abbas has directed us to address this matter, which we previously started, but then stopped due to the financial crisis. We have begun to address it again- to be implemented starting this month with February's salary.

Deductions from salaries: I referred the directives of H.E President Mahmoud Abbas to the Ministry of Finance to complete the full wages owed to all employees (around 25,000)- starting this month.

When the current government started pursuing its duties, we found that 12,000 discharged employees in 2005 receive a salary of 750 NIS a month. We returned the remaining amount to them to earn 1,500 NIS. (These employees wanted to join the security forces in 2005, but due to the Gaza Strip situation, their enrolment was not completed). Therefore, we will deal with their issues gradually.

The Palestinian financial crisis in the past years was caused by Israel's withholding of Palestinian tax money and the suspension of American and Arab aid. The crisis was partially solved, but we will pay the salaries in full based on the Ministry of Finance and the Office of Personnel database.

Gaza's problems are not only restricted to the issue of employees. There are the poor, whom we are committed to helping, as nearly 81,000 families receive aid from the government through the Ministry of Social Development. There are also the unemployed, who are in permanent unemployment, and the youth looking for job opportunities. We will make every effort to help them through the various programs that we run.

As for the problems of water, infrastructure, sewage, and reconstruction, the volume of projects being implemented in the Gaza Strip now amounts to about one billion dollars, including agriculture, construction of new schools, water, sewage, and sanitation projects, as well as health, social development, jobs, housing, entrepreneurship, youth, and energy support - in addition to the Gaza water desalination plant project and a supply to the power plant with gas instead of diesel.

We will publish a list of all these projects.

We have instructed the Monetary Authority to include a sustainability fund, granting soft loans to the private sector affected by COVID-19 in the Gaza Strip.

During the next two weeks, we will start the COVID-19 vaccination campaign, and we will provide Gaza with its share of the vaccines.

Israeli Violations:

Israeli settlers' terrorism and attacks under the protection of the Israeli occupying army continue. Israel continues to demolish Palestinian homes, including Jerusalem and its periphery, and has reached unprecedented levels. The killing operations of Palestinian youth are expanding as part of Israel's "shoot-to-kill" (field executions) policy. Last week, the occupying forces shot and killed two Palestinians at Ariel and Gush Etzion Checkpoints. We extend our deepest sympathies to their families and Prisoner Maher Sasa's family from Qalqilya, who died in the occupation prisons due to medical negligence.