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| Israel-Palestine-Jordan |
| Ending embargo, Saudi Arabia to send $60 million to Palestinian Authority – report |
| 2024-10-02 |
| [IsraelTimes] In apparent warming of ties, kingdom to give funds to cash-strapped Ramallah in four monthly payments, in arrangement struck during Abbas visit to Riyadh. International aid for the PA has dropped off due to concerns that it is corrupt and ineffective, a view shared by many Palestinians themselves. The PA has been further squeezed by Israel withholding some tax revenues it collects on its behalf, citing concerns the money would go to Palestinian terrorists and their families. As the war in Gaza continues, Israel has placed restrictions on the movement of West Bank Palestinian laborers into Israel, further denting the PA economy. The Saudi money won’t be enough to float the PA financially, the Times said, but noted it showed an improvement in ties with Palestinian leaders and increased support for the establishment of a Palestinian state. Saudi officials had indicated before the Hamas-led October 7 attack on southern Israel and the war it ignited that direct financial support to Ramallah, which dried up in 2016 amid graft allegations, would resume if the PA greenlights the kingdom’s normalization with Israel and increases efforts to curb corruption. After the outbreak of the Israel-Hamas, Saudi Arabia largely put on ice US-backed plans for the kingdom to normalize ties with Israel, sources familiar with Riyadh’s thinking said earlier this year. Last month Saudi Crown Prince Mohammed Bin Salman again declared that normalization with Israel would not come without the establishment of a Palestinian state. Such a move is considered a key sticking point with the current right-wing Israeli government, which has repeatedly rejected the possibility of a Palestinian state, especially in the wake of the October 7 attack, saying that doing so would be tantamount to rewarding terrorism. Europeans, Arab, and Muslim nations have also recently launched a new initiative for a Palestinian state, and to prepare for a future after the war in Gaza ends. |
| Posted by:trailing wife |
| #1 Note, The PA. West bank, not Gaza. |
| Posted by: ed in texas 2024-10-02 10:48 |