Thousands of Palestinians employed by the Palestinian Authority received on Wednesday their paychecks for the month of February.
The ministry of Finance was 15 days late in providing the paychecks which created a serious crisis for many of these employees in the West Bank and the Gaza Strip.
According to the MOF, some 150 thousand employees need 116 Million US dollars every month.
This number reflects the deep crisis the coming government will face if foreign aid was stopped.
Israel and the United states demanded that Hamas should recognize Israel for them to continue transferring this money to the PA.
On the other hand, the European Union asked Hamas to adopt peaceful means in dealing with the conflict and to disarm.
Khalil Al-Wazeer, acting Minister of Finance said the ministry is making contacts with some countries in bid to provide the needed funds March’s paychecks.
Al-Wazeer noted that Israel is still holding around 60 million US dollars of tax revenue money that belong the Palestinian Authority if Hamas leads the new cabinet. This money can pay almost half of the salaries for the employees.
He added that 10 million dollars are on their way from Russia in direct aid to the Palestinian Authority.
