Brussels – Prime Minister’s Office – Prime Minister and Minister of Foreign Affairs and Expatriates, Dr. Mohammed Mustafa, urged the international community to intervene urgently to address the financial crisis, calling for pressuring Israel to stop its piracy of Palestinian tax revenues and to release the Palestinian funds it withholds. He also called for an urgent and immediate financial support package for the budget, social protection of Palestinian poor families and workers who have lost their jobs due to the Israeli war, in addition to the accumulated private sector’s arrears.

During his remarks at the Ministerial Meeting of International Partners on Palestine in Brussels Mustafa stated, “The financial blockade represents a blatant violation of international laws and agreements. The significant decrease in our public revenues, resulting from the overall economic contraction since the onset of the war, and the continuous illegal Israeli deductions from our tax funds, have further drained our financial resources and hindered the government's ability to meet the needs of our people.”

“At present, the government is focusing on developing and implementing a comprehensive plan for urgent relief and early recovery to support 2.2 million people in Gaza. The plan we have prepared includes immediate interventions in two phases: immediate relief and early recovery, in full coordination with all partners,” he continued.

In addition to providing relief and humanitarian aid to the Palestinian people in the Gaza Strip, Mustafa stressed that administrative and institutional reform is a top priority for the Palestinian government. The aim is to improve the quality of public services, entrench transparency, and achieve social and economic development.

The Prime Minister dedicated part of his remarks to discussing the need for providing financial allocations for over half a million unemployed Palestinians in the West Bank and Gaza Strip who lost their jobs since the onset of the Israeli war waged against our people. He further warned of the severe consequences of the Israeli actions against Palestinian banking institutions, which threaten to cause a financial and economic collapse with dire repercussions, as highlighted in the latest World Bank report.