Palestinian Govt Seeks to Confront Companies Operating in Israeli Settlements

Palestinian Economy Minister Khalid Al-Esseily. (Facebook)
Palestinian Economy Minister Khalid Al-Esseily. (Facebook)
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Palestinian Govt Seeks to Confront Companies Operating in Israeli Settlements

Palestinian Economy Minister Khalid Al-Esseily. (Facebook)
Palestinian Economy Minister Khalid Al-Esseily. (Facebook)

Palestinian Economy Minister Khalid Al-Esseily announced Saturday that his government is working with international institutions to confront companies operating in Israeli settlements.

Since entering office in January, the Israeli government has approved plans to build thousands of new homes in the West Bank and East Jerusalem and has facilitated measures to further construct settlement houses.

It also passed a resolution that gives practically all control over planning approval for construction in West Bank settlements to Finance Minister Bezalel Smotrich.

Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu has also said he would not freeze Jewish settlement building in the occupied West Bank, and East Jerusalem.

On Saturday, Al-Esseily told the Arab World News Agency that the UN Human Rights Office removed 15 companies from its blacklist of businesses operating in West Bank settlements and in Jewish neighborhoods in east Jerusalem after they stopped their activities in those communities.

He said there are efforts to add two new companies to the list.

Last month, the UN Human Rights Office said these 15 companies no longer had ties with settlements. However, most of the international companies on the original list of 122 still remain.

The siege on the Gaza Strip, imposed for more than 17 years, has negative repercussions not only on the enclave, but on all of Palestine, Al-Esseily stressed, lamenting the low number of international donations.

He added: “Unfortunately, there is no support from the Arab world, except from a few countries, such as Algeria, which paid $54 million last year, and about $100 million in 2021.”

He indicated that Israel's deduction of approximately 260 million shekels per month from clearance funds led to an increase in the already existing deficit in the Palestinian Authority's budget.

Therefore, Al-Esseily called for activating the Arab safety net to deter Israel's economic measures imposed on Palestinians.

Despite the dire economic situation, Al-Esseily said the Palestinian Territories reported a growth of 3.6 percent in 2022, and of 7 percent in 2021. He expected the growth to reach 3 percent in 2023.



Hamas Official Says Group Open to Freeing Hostages, Five-Year Truce in Gaza

08 February 2025, Palestinian Territories, Deir al-Balah: Fighter of the Ezzeddine al-Qassam brigades, the military wing of Hamas hand over Israeli Hostages Or Levy (R), Eli Sharabi and Ohad Ben Ami to representatives of the International Committee of the Red Cross (ICRC), in the fifth batch of the first phase of the ceasefire exchange deal. (dpa)
08 February 2025, Palestinian Territories, Deir al-Balah: Fighter of the Ezzeddine al-Qassam brigades, the military wing of Hamas hand over Israeli Hostages Or Levy (R), Eli Sharabi and Ohad Ben Ami to representatives of the International Committee of the Red Cross (ICRC), in the fifth batch of the first phase of the ceasefire exchange deal. (dpa)
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Hamas Official Says Group Open to Freeing Hostages, Five-Year Truce in Gaza

08 February 2025, Palestinian Territories, Deir al-Balah: Fighter of the Ezzeddine al-Qassam brigades, the military wing of Hamas hand over Israeli Hostages Or Levy (R), Eli Sharabi and Ohad Ben Ami to representatives of the International Committee of the Red Cross (ICRC), in the fifth batch of the first phase of the ceasefire exchange deal. (dpa)
08 February 2025, Palestinian Territories, Deir al-Balah: Fighter of the Ezzeddine al-Qassam brigades, the military wing of Hamas hand over Israeli Hostages Or Levy (R), Eli Sharabi and Ohad Ben Ami to representatives of the International Committee of the Red Cross (ICRC), in the fifth batch of the first phase of the ceasefire exchange deal. (dpa)

Hamas is open to an agreement to end the Gaza war that would include the one-time release of all remaining hostages and a five-year cessation of hostilities, an official from the Palestinian group said Saturday.

"Hamas is ready for an exchange of prisoners in a single batch and a truce for five years," the official told AFP on condition of anonymity, as a delegation from his group was set to meet mediators in Cairo later in the day.

On April 17, Hamas, which opposes a "partial" ceasefire agreement, rejected an Israeli proposal that included a 45-day truce in exchange for the return of 10 living hostages.

The group has consistently demanded that a truce agreement must lead to the end of the war, a full Israeli withdrawal from Gaza, a prisoner exchange, and the immediate and sufficient entry of humanitarian aid into the war-battered Palestinian territory.

Israel, for its part, demands the return of all hostages and the disarmament of Hamas and other armed groups in Gaza -- the latter being a "red line" for the movement.

The war was triggered by Hamas's unprecedented attack on Israel on October 7, 2023, which resulted in the death of 1,218 people on the Israeli side, mostly civilians, according to an AFP count based on official figures.

Of the 251 people taken hostage that day, 58 are still being held in Gaza, including 34 who are dead, according to the Israeli army.

A truce from January 19 to March 17 allowed the return of 33 hostages to Israel, including eight who were deceased, in exchange for the release of about 1,800 Palestinians from Israeli prisons.

According to figures published by the Hamas-run territory's health ministry, at least 2,062 Palestinians have been killed since the Israeli offensive resumed on March 18, bringing the total death toll in Gaza to 51,439 since the start of the war.