The drying up of clearance funds warns of a financial collapse for the Palestinian Authority .. This is what the numbers say

Exclusive SadaNews - Recent data released by the Palestinian Ministry of Finance and Planning shows that the total clearance funds recorded by the end of 2025 reached approximately 10.53 billion shekels, while the Palestinian Authority received only 1.95 billion shekels, or about 18.5% of the total clearance funds achieved. This is due to Israel's refusal to transfer these funds, as the data reveals that the last batch of clearance funds received by the Palestinian Authority was in May of last year.

This amount that reached the public treasury from clearance funds is the lowest ever since the establishment of the Palestinian Authority in 1994.

Despite the difficult circumstances, the data shows an improvement in the total clearance funds in 2025 compared to 2024, as the total clearance funds at that time were about 10.11 billion shekels, indicating a growth rate of 4.1% in clearance funds. However, it remains at levels lower than the end of 2023, when the total clearance funds were approximately 12.23 billion shekels, which is about 13.9% less.

The data shows a significant gap in cash receipts from clearance funds that reached the public treasury in recent years, due to Israeli deductions, withholdings, or seizures of funds. The cash receipts in 2024 amounted to about 4.34 billion shekels, meaning that the authority received about 43% of the total funds after deductions and withholdings. In contrast, the cash receipts in 2023 reached approximately 7.91 billion shekels out of 12.23 billion shekels, which is about 65% of the total clearance funds before deductions and withholdings.

Overall, the total amount received by the public treasury from clearance funds in 2025 is about 2.39 billion shekels less than in 2024, and about 5.96 billion shekels less than in 2023, which witnessed the outbreak of the Israeli war on the Gaza Strip at the end of the year following the events of October 7.

While the total clearance funds at the end of 2022 were about 11.50 billion shekels, and the amount that reached the public treasury was about 8.82 billion shekels, the amount that reached the national authority from clearance funds after the end of 2025 is less by about 6.87 billion shekels. This means that if the clearance funds were flowing to the public treasury as usual in 2022, the national authority would have been able to obtain funds that would at least allow it to pay the dues of public sector employees, which are at close levels.

The achieved figures regarding clearance funds reflected on the overall financial performance of the Palestinian Authority during 2025, as total revenues based on cash amounted to approximately 11.23 billion shekels, which is about 420 million shekels less than the previous year (which was about 11.65 billion shekels) and about 4.75 billion shekels less than in 2023 (which amounted to about 15.98 billion shekels).

The cash revenues at the end of 2025 amounted to approximately 11.23 billion shekels, while they were approximately 11.65 billion shekels at the end of 2024, and about 15.98 billion shekels at the end of 2023, reflecting a clear decline in revenues not only due to Israeli deductions and withholdings but also due to the downturn in the economic cycle in Palestine due to the repercussions of the war.

As for revenues based on commitment, they amounted to approximately 15.28 billion shekels at the end of 2025, about 14.57 billion shekels at the end of 2024, and 17.74 billion shekels at the end of 2023, indicating that total revenues after 2025 are about 2.46 billion shekels lower on a commitment basis, or about 13.86% of the total revenues achieved in 2023.

Regarding total expenditures and net lending, they amounted to about 17.98 billion shekels based on commitment at the end of 2025, approximately 18.43 billion shekels at the end of 2024, while they were about 18.34 billion shekels at the end of the year, reflecting a slight decline of about 2.44%, indicating a slight reduction in expenditures (in terms of commitment) despite the financial crisis.

However, the total expenditures based on cash indicate that the authority did not fulfill all its commitments, either in terms of paying salaries and wages of employees or in terms of meeting its debts to the private sector and other commitments. The total cash expenditures at the end of 2025 amounted to approximately 12.36 billion shekels, compared to 13.75 billion shekels in 2024 and 14.75 billion shekels at the end of 2023, meaning that the national authority spent about 1.39 billion shekels less in 2025 compared to 2024 and about 2.39 billion shekels less compared to 2023.

The government communications director, Dr. Mohammed Abu Rab, indicated in press statements that there were no new developments regarding the clearance funds, while the government has repeatedly stated that the amount of funds held by the Israeli side from clearance and bridge taxes reaches about 15 billion shekels, while the total public debt and commitments exceeded 47 billion shekels.