Editing Palestinian Authority (section)

===International aid===
{{see also|International aid to Palestinians|United States security assistance to the Palestinian National Authority|taxation in the Palestinian territories}}

The majority of aid to the Palestinian Authority comes from the United States and [[European Union]]. According to figures released by the PA, only 22 percent of the $530,000,000 received since the beginning of 2010 came from Arab donors. The remaining came from Western donors and organizations. The total amount of foreign aid received directly by the PA was $1.4 billion in 2009 and $1.8 billion in 2008.<ref name="Ref_ak">{{cite web|url=http://www.businessweek.com/news/2010-12-08/palestinians-lure-banks-with-first-sukuk-bills-islamic-finance.html |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20101212090617/http://www.businessweek.com/news/2010-12-08/palestinians-lure-banks-with-first-sukuk-bills-islamic-finance.html |url-status=dead |archive-date=12 December 2010 |title=Palestinians Lure Banks With First Sukuk Bills: Islamic Finance |work=Bloomberg Businessweek |date=8 December 2010 }}</ref>

Palestinian leaders stated the Arab world was "continuing to ignore" repeated requests for help.<ref name="Ref_al">{{cite web|last=Abu |first=Khaled |url=http://www.jpost.com/MiddleEast/Article.aspx?id=187993 |title=Abbas's plea to Arab states: Show me the money! |work=The Jerusalem Post |date=14 September 2010 |access-date=5 January 2013}}</ref>

The US and the EU responded to Hamas' political victory by stopping direct aid to the PA, while the US imposed a financial blockade on PA's banks, impeding some of the [[Arab League]]'s funds (e.g. Saudi Arabia and Qatar) from being transferred to the PA.<ref name="LemondeA">{{Citation | url=http://www.lemonde.fr/proche-orient/article/2006/05/09/le-quartet-cherche-une-solution-a-la-banqueroute-palestinienne_769645_3218.html| date=9 May 2006 | access-date=9 May 2006 |work=Le Monde | title=Le Quartet cherche une solution à la banqueroute palestinienne|language=fr}}</ref> On 6 and 7 May 2006, hundreds of Palestinians demonstrated in Gaza and the West Bank demanding payment of their wages.

In 2013 there are 150,000 government employees. Income to run the government to serve about 4 million citizens, comes from donations from other countries.<ref>{{Cite news | title=Palestine leader warns of cash crisis | url=https://news.yahoo.com/ap-interview-palestinian-pm-warns-cash-crisis-192032134.html | newspaper=Florida Today | location=Melbourne, Florida | pages=4A | date=7 January 2013 | access-date=15 January 2017 | archive-date=1 January 2016 | archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20160101105129/http://news.yahoo.com/ap-interview-palestinian-pm-warns-cash-crisis-192032134.html | url-status=dead }}</ref><!---the soft copy article is more extensive than the hard copy one, but this summary is taken from the hard copy--->

In 2020, Swedish foreign aid minister [[Peter Eriksson (politician)|Peter Eriksson]] ([[Green Party (Sweden)|Green Party]]) announced a 1.5 billion SEK support package (about 150 million euro) to the Palestine Authority in 2020–2024. This announcement came after several other countries had reduced aid due to indicators of corruption and that funds go towards the salaries of militants.<ref>{{Cite web|title=Nytt palestinskt miljardbistånd: "Upprörande"|url=https://www.varldenidag.se/nyheter/nytt-palestinskt-miljardbistand-upprorande/reptfo!dOT07yEKDdqJpuMm8WVW@w/|access-date=4 July 2020|website=varldenidag.se|language=sv}}</ref>

====Economic sanctions following January 2006 legislative elections====
{{main|2006–2007 economic sanctions against the Palestinian National Authority}}
Following the [[2006 Palestinian legislative election|January 2006 legislative elections]], won by [[Hamas]], the [[Quartet on the Middle East|Quartet]] (the United States, Russia, the European Union, and the United Nations) threatened to cut funds to the Palestinian Authority. On 2 February 2006, according to the [[Agence France Presse|AFP]], the PA accused Israel of "practicing collective punishment after it snubbed the US calls to unblock funds owed to the Palestinians." Prime minister [[Ahmed Qorei]] "said he was hopeful of finding alternative funding to meet the budget shortfall of around 50 million dollars, needed to pay the wages of public sector workers, and which should have been handed over by Israel on the first of the month." The US Department criticized Israel for refusing to quickly unblock the funds. The funds were later unblocked.<ref name="Ref_2006c">{{cite news | title=Palestinian fury at Israeli refusal to unblock funds | agency=Agence France-Presse | date=3 February 2006 | url=http://www.khaleejtimes.com/DisplayArticle.asp?xfile=data/business/2006/February/business_February58.xml§ion=business&col= | access-date=29 October 2021 | archive-date=11 May 2013 | archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20130511142417/http://www.khaleejtimes.com/DisplayArticle.asp?xfile=data%2Fbusiness%2F2006%2FFebruary%2Fbusiness_February58.xml§ion=business&col= | url-status=dead }}</ref> However, ''The New York Times'' alleged on 14 February 2006 that a "destabilization plan" of the United States and Israel, aimed against [[Hamas]], winner of the January 2006 legislative elections, centered "largely on money" and cutting all funds to the PA once Hamas takes power, in order to delegitimize it in the eyes of the Palestinians. According to the news article, "The Palestinian Authority has a monthly cash deficit of some $60 million to $70 million after it receives between $50 million and $55 million a month from Israel in taxes and customs duties collected by Israeli officials at the borders but owed to the Palestinians." Beginning March 2006, "the Palestinian Authority will face a cash deficit of at least $110 million a month, or more than $1 billion a year, which it needs to pay full salaries to its 140,000 employees, who are the breadwinners for at least one-third of the Palestinian population. The employment figure includes some 58,000 members of the security forces, most of which are affiliated with the defeated [[Fatah]] movement." Since 25 January elections, "the Palestinian stock market has already fallen about 20 percent", while the "Authority has exhausted its borrowing capacity with local banks."<ref name="Erlanger2006">{{Citation | title=U.S. and Israelis Are Said to Talk of Hamas Ouster |work=The New York Times |date=14 February 2006 | url=https://www.nytimes.com/2006/02/14/international/middleeast/14mideast.html?ei=5094&en=d28cff5caa1702fa&hp=&ex=1139979600&partner=homepage&pagewanted=print | first=Steven | last=Erlanger | access-date=21 May 2010}}</ref>

====Use of European Union assistance====
In February 2004, it was reported that the [[European Union]] (EU) anti-fraud office ([[OLAF]]) was studying documents suggesting that [[Yasser Arafat]] and the Palestinian Authority had diverted tens of millions of dollars in EU funds to organizations involved in terrorist attacks, such as the [[Al-Aqsa Martyrs Brigades]]. However, in August 2004, a provisional assessment stated that "To date, there is no evidence that funds from the non-targeted EU Direct Budget Assistance to the Palestinian Authority have been used to finance illegal activities, including terrorism."<ref name="Olaf2004">{{cite press release|publisher=OLAF |date=10 August 2004 |title=OLAF Investigation into EU Budget Assistance for the Palestinian Authority |url=http://europa.eu.int/comm/anti_fraud/press_room/pr/2004/15_en.html |url-status=dead |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20041010181148/http://europa.eu.int/comm/anti_fraud/press_room/pr/2004/15_en.html |archive-date=10 October 2004 }}</ref>

====United States foreign aid packages====
[[United States House Appropriations Subcommittee on State, Foreign Operations, and Related Programs|The US House for Foreign Operations]] announced a foreign assistance package to the Palestinian Authority that included provisions that would bar the government from receiving aid if it seeks statehood at the UN or includes Hamas in a unity government. The bill would provide $513 million for the Palestinian Authority.<ref>{{cite web |last=Leila |first=Hilary |url=http://www.jpost.com/DiplomacyAndPolitics/Article.aspx?id=231160 |title=US foreign aid package may put conditions on PA funding |work=The Jerusalem Post |date=27 July 2011 |url-status=dead |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20110802144737/http://www.jpost.com/DiplomacyAndPolitics/Article.aspx?id=231160 |archive-date=2 August 2011}}</ref>

====Payments to Palestinian prisoners in Israeli prisons====
On 22 July 2004, Salam Fayyad, PA Minister of Finance, in an article in the Palestinian weekly, ''The Jerusalem Times'', detailed the following payments to Palestinians imprisoned by the Israeli authorities:<ref name="Ref_av">{{Citation | title=A settlement for the prisoners | work=Jerusalem-Times.net | url=http://www.jerusalem-times.net/article/news/details/detail.asp?id=449&edition=539 | access-date=19 February 2006 | archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20060114065416/http://www.jerusalem-times.net/article/news/details/detail.asp?id=449&edition=539 | archive-date=14 January 2006 | url-status=dead }} Subscription only.</ref>

# Prisoner allowances increased between June 2002 and June 2004 to $9.6M USD monthly, an increase of 246 percent compared with January 1995 – June 2002.
# Between June 2002 and June 2004, 77M NIS were delivered to Palestinians held in Israeli prisons, compared to 121M NIS between January 1995 and June 2002, which is an increase of 16M NIS yearly. The increase of annual spending between the two periods registers 450 percent, which is much higher than the percentage increase of the number of prisoners.
# Between 2002 and 2004, the PA paid 22M NIS to cover other expenses – lawyers' fees, fines, and allocations for released prisoners. This includes lawyers' fees paid directly by the PA and fees paid through the Prisoners Club.
In February 2011, The Jerusalem Post revealed that the PA was paying monthly salaries to members of Hamas who are in Israeli prisons.<ref>{{Cite news|title=PA paying salaries to Hamas men in Israel's prisons|work=The Jerusalem Post 
|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20110210035942/http://www.jpost.com/MiddleEast/Article.aspx?id=207540 |archive-date=10 February 2011 
| date= 9 February 2011
| first=Khaled | last=Abu Toameh
|url=http://www.jpost.com/MiddleEast/Article.aspx?id=207540
|access-date=2023-02-20}}</ref>

In March 2009, an extra 800 shekels ($190) was added to the stipends given to Palestinians affiliated with PLO factions in Israeli prisons, as confirmed by the head of Palestinian Prisoner Society in Nablus Ra'ed Amer. Each PLO-affiliated prisoner receives 1,000 shekels ($238) per month, an extra 300 shekels ($71) if they are married, and an extra 50 shekels ($12) for each child.<ref>{{cite news |url=http://www.maannews.net/eng/ViewDetails.aspx?ID=208966 |title=Extra 800 shekels added to PLO prisoner payments following Abbas' order |agency=Ma'an News Agency |access-date=26 November 2012 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20130528000532/http://www.maannews.net/eng/ViewDetails.aspx?ID=208966 |archive-date=28 May 2013 |url-status=dead }}</ref>

In 2016 the [[United Kingdom]] had a domestic debate about how its aid to the PA ended up funding prisoners incarcerated in Israel.<ref name="tdt_13June2016">{{cite news|title=UK aid 'indirectly spent on Palestinian terror groups' former Cabinet minister warns|url=https://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/2016/06/13/uk-aid-indirectly-spent-on-palestinian-terror-groups-former-cabi/|access-date=2 November 2016|newspaper=The Daily Telegraph|location=London|date=13 June 2016}}</ref> In October 2016 a sum of £25 million, constituting a third of its aid payments, was withheld pending the results of an investigation.{{citation needed|date=December 2019}}

====James G. Lindsay====
[[James G. Lindsay]], a former [[UNRWA]] general-counsel and fellow researcher for [[The Washington Institute for Near East Policy]], published a report regarding the use of international aid in the Palestinian Authority. Lindsay argued that internationally funded construction projects in the [[West Bank]] should try to minimize foreign labor and maximize the participation of Palestinian workers and management to ensure economic expansion through salaries, job training, and improved infrastructure. Lindsay stated that some financial control should stay in international hands to avoid "nepotism or corruption".<ref name="Ref_">{{Cite web
| archive-url= https://web.archive.org/web/20200728082309/https://www.washingtoninstitute.org/policy-analysis/view/tony-blair-takes-on-west-bank-aid
| archive-date = 28 July 2020
| last = Lindsay | first = James G.
| title= Tony Blair Takes on West Bank Aid 
| date = 19 November 2007
| series = Policywatch 1307
| url=https://www.washingtoninstitute.org/policy-analysis/tony-blair-takes-west-bank-aid
|website=The Washington Institute for Near East Policy
}}</ref>

Lindsay has also argued that in any peace settlement acceptable to Israel "there will be few, if any, Palestinian refugees returning to Israel proper".<ref name="Ref_" />
Lindsay suggested that internationally funded construction projects should try to benefit West Bank refugees who are willing to give up their longstanding demand for a "[[right of return]]". Lindsay also claimed that projects that will improve the living conditions of West Bank refugees could also be seen as part of the reparations or damages to be paid to refugees in any likely Israeli-Palestinian agreement. Lindsay criticized the Palestinian Authority treatment of these refugees:
<blockquote>PA projects are not likely to address refugee needs, however, since the PA has traditionally deferred to the UN Relief and Works Agency (UNRWA) regarding infrastructure in refugee camps.<ref name="Ref_" /></blockquote>