[[{"content_id":"347139","domain_id":"0","lang_id":"en","portal_id":"2","owner_id":"114","user_id":"43","view_accesslevel_id":"0","edit_accesslevel_id":"0","delete_accesslevel_id":"0","editor_id":"0","content_title":"Palestinians hit with severe decline in funding from Arab states","content_number":"","content_date_event":"2020-10-18 17:23:59","content_summary":"According to The New Arab and data from the Palestinian finance ministry, Ramallah has received no funds from Arab countries since March.","content_summary_fill":"1","content_body":"Palestinian officials believe that recent normalisation deals between the Persian Gulf monarchies and Israel have led to a sharp decline in financial support from Arab states to Palestine.\r\n\r\n \r\n\r\nArab aid to Palestinians dropped by 81.5 percent, from $210 million in 2019 to $38 million in 2020.\r\n\r\n \r\n\r\nThis financial deterioration occurred only amid the Covid-19 pandemic, but during a time when the Persian Gulf-Israeli normalisation agreements – strongly opposed by the PA – were being drawn up and negotiated.\r\n\r\n \r\n\r\n“Most of the Arab countries did not abide by the decisions of the Arab summits to provide a financial safety net of $100 million for Palestine in the face of US and Israeli sanctions,” Palestinian Authority Foreign Minister Riyad Al Maliki said.\r\n\r\n \r\n\r\n“We do not know if this was the result of the financial repercussions of the coronavirus pandemic, or at the request of the United States, as President Trump said.”\r\n\r\n \r\n\r\nAccording to Al Araby Al Jadeed, The New Arab’s Arabic language service, US President Donald Trump told Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu that he had “asked the rich Arab countries not to pay the Palestinians.”\r\n\r\n \r\n\r\nAs a result of the pandemic, the Palestinian Central Bureau of Statistics estimates that from March to May 2020 the PA lost $2.5 billion with a GDP contraction of 14 percent and suffered a budget deficit of $1.4 billion.\r\n\r\n \r\n\r\nFinancial support from the Persian Gulf Arab states, particularly from Saudi Arabia and Qatar, has been a lifeline to the occupied Palestinian territories.\r\n\r\n \r\n\r\nQatar’s support is primarily directed at Hamas-controlled Gaza, which is responsible for housing construction, infrastructure and daily subsistence. In March, Doha announced it would deliver $150 million over six months.\r\n\r\n \r\n\r\nThe UAE does not provide direct financial assistance to the PA, as relations have soured over a number of years.\r\n\r\n \r\n\r\nAccording to the PA’s Ministry of Finance, the government received approximately $4.5 billion in aid between 2012 and 2016 – 39 percent from Arab and 61 percent from non-Arab donors.\r\n\r\n \r\n\r\n ","content_html":"

Palestinian officials believe that recent normalisation deals between the Persian Gulf monarchies and Israel have led to a sharp decline in financial support from Arab states to Palestine.<\/span><\/p>\r\n\r\n

 <\/p>\r\n\r\n

Arab aid to Palestinians dropped by 81.5 percent, from $210 million in 2019 to $38 million in 2020.<\/span><\/p>\r\n\r\n

 <\/p>\r\n\r\n

This financial deterioration occurred only amid the Covid-19 pandemic, but during a time when the Persian Gulf-Israeli normalisation agreements – strongly opposed by the PA – were being drawn up and negotiated.<\/span><\/p>\r\n\r\n

 <\/p>\r\n\r\n

“Most of the Arab countries did not abide by the decisions of the Arab summits to provide a financial safety net of $100 million for Palestine in the face of US and Israeli sanctions,” Palestinian Authority Foreign Minister Riyad Al Maliki said.<\/span><\/p>\r\n\r\n

 <\/p>\r\n\r\n

“We do not know if this was the result of the financial repercussions of the coronavirus pandemic, or at the request of the United States, as President Trump said.”<\/span><\/p>\r\n\r\n

 <\/p>\r\n\r\n

According to Al Araby Al Jadeed, The New Arab’s Arabic language service, US President Donald Trump told Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu that he had “asked the rich Arab countries not to pay the Palestinians.”<\/span><\/p>\r\n\r\n

 <\/p>\r\n\r\n

As a result of the pandemic, the Palestinian Central Bureau of Statistics estimates that from March to May 2020 the PA lost $2.5 billion with a GDP contraction of 14 percent and suffered a budget deficit of $1.4 billion.<\/span><\/p>\r\n\r\n

 <\/p>\r\n\r\n

Financial support from the Persian Gulf Arab states, particularly from Saudi Arabia and Qatar, has been a lifeline to the occupied Palestinian territories.<\/span><\/p>\r\n\r\n

 <\/p>\r\n\r\n

Qatar’s support is primarily directed at Hamas-controlled Gaza, which is responsible for housing construction, infrastructure and daily subsistence. In March, Doha announced it would deliver $150 million over six months.<\/span><\/p>\r\n\r\n

 <\/p>\r\n\r\n

The UAE does not provide direct financial assistance to the PA, as relations have soured over a number of years.<\/span><\/p>\r\n\r\n

 <\/p>\r\n\r\n

According to the PA’s Ministry of Finance, the government received approximately $4.5 billion in aid between 2012 and 2016 – 39 percent from Arab and 61 percent from non-Arab donors.<\/span><\/p>\r\n\r\n

 <\/p>\r\n\r\n

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