Prime Minister: Administrative and Financial Measures to Alleviate Burdens on Public Employees

SadaNews: Prime Minister Dr. Mohammad Mustafa reiterated that the occupation bears full legal, political, and moral responsibility for what is happening in the Gaza Strip, stating: "Statements of condemnation from the international community are no longer sufficient. The humanitarian situation in the sector requires actual movements greater than what we have seen so far, urging to open the crossings immediately, allowing sufficient amounts of aid to enter, and ensuring its delivery to every needy person, as the humanitarian situation in the Gaza Strip has exceeded any description. We are facing a real famine; children are dying of hunger, the elderly are collapsing, patients are dying without medicine, whole families are being obliterated, and those who survived are today without shelter, water, or food."

Mustafa confirmed during his speech at the start of the weekly Cabinet session on Tuesday in Ramallah, that the Palestinian government is working on the ground, through the governmental operations room for emergency interventions in the southern governorates, led by the Ministry of Relief, coordinating all efforts and resources to respond to the humanitarian crisis. The governmental team, led by the Ministry of Planning, is preparing for a reconstruction conference in Cairo once the ceasefire is achieved.

The Prime Minister emphasized the continuation of diligent work at the diplomatic level to form a broad international front rejecting the occupation and its policies, and pressuring through the United Nations, the Arab League, the Organization of Islamic Cooperation, the European Union, the African Union, and other international forums and influential states, to transform their condemnations into actions and practical steps, and punishment for the aggressor, so that Israel complies with the international consensus calling for an end to the aggression against our people in the occupied Palestinian territories, including Jerusalem.

Mustafa stated: "Gaza is not just a humanitarian file; Gaza is the heart of the Palestinian cause, and there will be no stability in this region without ending the suffering of its people."

He also pointed out the holding of an international conference to implement the two-state solution next Monday, hosted by the United Nations in New York, led by Saudi Arabia and France, where the conference will focus on creating a collective international movement and commitment from the participating states to take specific steps to realize the Palestinian state within a specific timetable, starting with the immediate recognition of the State of Palestine, according to international law and United Nations resolutions. The expected statements for the conference will also include a call for an immediate end to the Israeli aggression on Gaza, stopping famine and forced displacement, and ensuring the provision of aid and actual protection for the Palestinian people.

The agenda of the conference includes a call for providing political and economic support for the State of Palestine and the government reform program, starting with the discussion of strategic projects for the state such as: the airport, the port, and the crossings, and ensuring Palestinians' access to their natural resources.

The conference will also discuss supporting the development of the Palestinian private sector, removing restrictions on movement and access, fully integrating Palestine into the international monetary and financial systems, and working towards obtaining full membership in the United Nations and international financial institutions.

The Prime Minister clarified that the conference represents an opportunity to mobilize support for a conference on the reconstruction of Gaza and a donors' conference to support the relaunch of the Palestinian economy, and to obligate Israel to implement the signed agreements, foremost of which is the immediate release of withheld Palestinian funds and ensuring their non-withholding in the future, and reviewing agreements to free the Palestinian economy from imposed restrictions, especially in areas classified as (C).

On the financial and economic side, the Prime Minister stated: "Rest assured that your government, under the guidance of Mr. President, works day and night, pressing in every direction, knocking on every political, legal, and international door to recover our withheld money, and we are also working at the internal level, seeking solutions that support you. We realize that we need actions and lasting solutions, which is what we focus our efforts on."

Mustafa sent a message to public employees emphasizing that "the state is built on institutions, and institutions are established and continue through the efforts of their honorable employees. What affects the employee affects the state, including the government. It affects us all; we are in the same trench, we bear our responsibility towards our steadfast employees, and they endure our conditions."

Regarding the financial situation, the Prime Minister mentioned a series of steps that have been taken to achieve improvement in the financial situation and continue taking other steps including:

First: Work to release our withheld funds in the coming period through the immediate release of clearance funds for the months of 5, 6, and 7 so that we can meet our commitments towards employees, suppliers, and banks. Work is ongoing on several tracks to secure whatever possible of public employees' salaries, and we hope to have an announcement in this regard soon.

Second: The government has started taking administrative and financial measures to alleviate burdens on public employees, which are as follows:

1. Arrangements that the Ministry of Local Government is working on implementing with electricity and water companies and local governance bodies.

2. Procedures that the Ministry of Communications is working on implementing with telecommunications companies.

3. Directing the Ministry of Finance to confirm salary entitlements owed to employees in the public treasury by indicating them in the salary voucher.

4. Directing ministers to work quickly on arrangements to alleviate the burdens of employees' transportation to their workplaces without negatively affecting the provision of services to citizens and the continuity of all institutions' work.

5. Several austerity measures and continuous reforms aimed at reducing and rationalizing expenses, the latest concerning medical referrals to the interior.

6. The Ministry of Finance is working with the Palestinian Monetary Authority and the banking sector to arrange financial matters to allow the Palestinian economy and society to confront the current financial crisis.

7. Achieving a major achievement in the collection of public funds, through reaching financial settlements exceeding 600 million shekels with some electricity distribution companies and local governance authorities, as part of a continuous governmental program to settle the accumulated debts owed by some companies and local authorities and put them on the path to financial sustainability. The Ministry of Finance received checks recently for this amount (600 million shekels), and the ministry is working to secure new banking facilities, guaranteed by these checks in the coming weeks, which is a significant financial and reform achievement.

We thank the official institutions that achieved this success, and we also extend our thanks to the electricity, water distribution companies, and local governance authorities for their positive cooperation in this regard.

8. The Ministry of Finance is working, with the support of specialized financial experts, to prepare the requirements for issuing sovereign bonds to provide financial resources from investors, including banks, investment companies, service providers, and citizens. This step, if completed, could represent one of the possible solutions for repaying debts to suppliers and employees.

9. The government is working on several other tracks, including improving arrangements at the crossings to ensure the freedom of movement and travel for citizens with dignity, and combating smuggling at the crossings. It is also working to combat tax evasion which has burdened the treasury significantly; it is expected that this will lead to increased domestic revenues in the coming months.

10. Continuing efforts to gather more Arab and international support to provide additional financial resources; in this context, we thank all brotherly and friendly states and all international organizations for their financial and economic assistance to Palestine.

Mustafa concluded his speech by assuring the Palestinian people that we will overcome these challenges with our unity, steadfastness, and solidarity, no matter how severe the pressures and prolonged the siege, and despite all plans of the occupation.

Additionally, the Cabinet discussed a number of topics on the agenda, including securing more financial resources to cover the remaining housing allowance for families displaced by the occupation from their homes in the Jenin and Tulkarem camps which did not receive the last payment in coordination with local and international partner authorities, as well as the actual start of implementing temporary shelters next week after completing preparations, execution plans, and securing the necessary funding during the past period.

The council also approved granting facilities for building licenses in the northern valleys to support citizens and enhance their steadfastness.

On another note, the Cabinet discussed the first presentation of the policy and strategy for auditing and control in the public sector, which will contribute to reviewing internal audit standards for government departments and supporting and developing internal auditing and control and activating the relevant departments to raise efficiency and professionalism of government institutions in integration with the efforts of the Administrative and Financial Control Bureau.

The council also discussed the first presentation of the trust services provider licensing system and fees project, which aims to regulate the trust services market by specifying clear standards and conditions for practicing the activity, ensuring the protection of users and electronic signatures, and thus protecting citizens' property, enhancing cybersecurity, and improving the quality of services provided, as well as supporting the business environment and the digital economy and encouraging investment in trust services.

The council approved the final presentation of the standard document for purchasing pharmaceuticals and vaccines, which specifies the basic standards for purchasing operations in the mentioned fields, contributing to supplying these necessities with quality and preferential prices, and ensuring the continued support of Palestinian pharmaceutical industries and enhancing their competitiveness in government tenders.

The council also approved a memorandum of understanding between the Ministries of Interior in the Hashemite Kingdom of Jordan and the State of Palestine regarding the establishment and development of the unified emergency response center (911) in Palestine.