Ministry of Finance: Israel Has Not Transferred Customs Funds Yet

SadaNews: Palestinian Deputy Minister of Finance, Majdi Al-Hassan, stated today, Wednesday, that the Israeli occupation authorities have not yet transferred the customs funds due to the Palestinian Authority.

It is worth noting that the customs funds are collected by Israel on behalf of the Palestinian Authority from taxes imposed on imported goods.

The last salary paid to employees was for the month of April 2025, at a rate of 35% before Eid al-Adha and another 35% at the beginning of this month.

Palestinian Prime Minister Mohammed Mustafa reviewed the financial situation during the last government session, saying: "We have been informed by the Israeli side of the customs amount for the past two months after deductions, where the value of the customs for the month of (5) which has not yet arrived is approximately 844 million shekels. The Israeli side has deducted an amount of 275 million shekels as extortion due to the government's transfer of allocations to the Gaza Strip, while the government continues to transfer the allocations to our employees in the sector. Additionally, there are other deductions amounting to about 220 million shekels for what we pay for the allocations to the families of martyrs and prisoners and some services like water, electricity, and health services, bringing the total of these deductions for the month of (5) alone to about 443 million shekels, consequently, the net amount according to Israeli estimates is around 400 million shekels only, which has not been transferred to us yet".

Mustafa added: "As for the customs for the month of (6), the total revenues amounted to 960 million shekels, but 471 million shekels were also deducted from it, including 275 million shekels related to Gaza salaries, and the rest for other services, thus approximately 490 million shekels remain, which also has not been transferred to us yet.

He continued: "After all deductions, about 890 million shekels remain for two months, and we are waiting for this amount to be transferred, knowing that this amount is not the only one, as it has accumulated on the Israeli side in our favor due to previous deductions amounting to about 8.2 billion shekels that have not been paid. We are doing everything we can through diplomatic and legal efforts and all possible means to address this issue, but the measures we have taken so far are professional and technical measures within the framework of government work. However, it is clear that these procedures are political measures and therefore require political responses".

The Deputy Minister of Finance also touched upon the suppliers' sector for the government and the size of the public debt on the Palestinian Authority, confirming that it has reached 13 billion dollars.

At the same time, Al-Hassan spoke about the large and illegitimate deductions made by the occupation state from Palestinian customs funds, which amount to hundreds of millions of shekels, as well as the occupation's procrastination in transferring the remaining amount after the deduction to the Palestinian Authority.

Regarding the date of disbursing public employee salaries and their percentage, the General Accountant of the Ministry of Finance, Mohammed Rabi, stated that this depends on the availability of revenues to the government treasury, including customs funds, noting that intensive efforts are being made in this regard.