Palestinian Government Continues to Slash Public Wages

Palestinian Authority employees queue to receive their salaries from an ATM in Khan Younis in the southern Gaza Strip in April 2012. Reuters file photo
Palestinian Authority employees queue to receive their salaries from an ATM in Khan Younis in the southern Gaza Strip in April 2012. Reuters file photo
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Palestinian Government Continues to Slash Public Wages

Palestinian Authority employees queue to receive their salaries from an ATM in Khan Younis in the southern Gaza Strip in April 2012. Reuters file photo
Palestinian Authority employees queue to receive their salaries from an ATM in Khan Younis in the southern Gaza Strip in April 2012. Reuters file photo

The Palestinian Ministry of Finance and Planning announced Sunday that government employees will only receive 50 percent of their August salaries, for the fourth month in a row.

It said in a statement that employees with salaries below 1,750 shekels (USD488) will receive their full wages, while the rest will be paid at least 1,750 shekels or half their salaries, Reuters reported.

The government will pay the wages of employees in the health, security, and education sectors on Tuesday while the rest will get paid Wednesday.

In May, the Palestinian Authority (PA) refused to receive taxes collected by Israel.

Israel collects some USD190 million a month in customs duties levied on goods destined for Palestinian markets that transit through its ports.

This amount contributes to 50 percent of the state’s budget whose deficit reached USD1.4 billion as a result of the novel coronavirus pandemic.

The PA fell short of its financial pledges in May, June, and July through paying incomplete salaries.



UN Rights Chief ‘Gravely Concerned’ by Lebanon Escalation

Smoke billows above Beirut’s southern suburbs following an Israeli airstrike on November 26, 2024, amid the ongoing war between Israel and Hezbollah. (AFP)
Smoke billows above Beirut’s southern suburbs following an Israeli airstrike on November 26, 2024, amid the ongoing war between Israel and Hezbollah. (AFP)
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UN Rights Chief ‘Gravely Concerned’ by Lebanon Escalation

Smoke billows above Beirut’s southern suburbs following an Israeli airstrike on November 26, 2024, amid the ongoing war between Israel and Hezbollah. (AFP)
Smoke billows above Beirut’s southern suburbs following an Israeli airstrike on November 26, 2024, amid the ongoing war between Israel and Hezbollah. (AFP)

The UN rights chief on Tuesday voiced concern about the escalation of hostilities in Lebanon, where his office said nearly 100 people had been reported killed by Israeli airstrikes in recent days, including women, children and medics.

Israel has been locked in fighting with Lebanese armed group Hezbollah since Oct. 2023, and fighting has escalated dramatically since late September of this year.

"UN Human Rights Chief Volker Turk is gravely concerned by the escalation in Lebanon with at least 97 people reportedly killed in Israeli airstrikes between the 22nd and 24th of November," Jeremy Laurence, a spokesperson for the Office of the High Commissioner of Human Rights, told a Geneva press briefing.

He said that at least seven paramedics had been reported killed in three Israeli strikes in the south of Lebanon on Nov. 22-23, adding to 226 healthcare worker deaths since Oct. 7, 2023. He did not specify how many of the recent deaths had been verified by UN human rights monitors.

Israel says it targets military capabilities in Lebanon and Gaza and takes steps to mitigate the risk of harm to civilians. It accuses Hezbollah, like Hamas, of hiding among civilians, which they deny.