He said arrears would be paid as soon as the financial situation permitted
Gaza:
The Palestinian Authority said on Sunday that the Israeli Finance Ministry continued to withhold tax revenues and as a result only a portion of public sector salaries would be paid this week, maintaining a months-long payroll squeeze.
The Authority said it would pay Palestinian public sector workers 50% of their March salaries on Tuesday, after Israel withheld a transfer scheduled for April.
He said arrears would be paid as soon as the financial situation permitted.
Israel’s Ministry of Finance confirmed that it was decided not to transfer tax revenue this month, but declined to provide details.
Pressure on public sector wages and the fact that tens of thousands of Palestinians have been prevented from working in Israel since the start of the war in Gaza in October have contributed to growing economic difficulties in the occupied West Bank.
Israel collects taxes on goods passing through Israel to the West Bank on behalf of the Palestinian Authority and transfers the revenue to Ramallah under a long-standing agreement between the two sides.
But since the Hamas-led attack on Israel, Israeli Finance Minister Bezalel Smotrich has withheld amounts earmarked for administrative expenses in Gaza.
Although the Islamist movement Hamas wrested control of Gaza from rival faction Fatah in 2007, the Palestinian Authority, which is dominated by Fatah, continues to fund some health and education services in the enclave.
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