Ma'an News Agency
December 2, 2011 - 1:00am
http://www.maannews.net/eng/ViewDetails.aspx?ID=441271


BETHLEHEM (Ma'an) -- Government salaries for November will be paid on time after Israel released frozen tax revenues to the Palestinian Authority, a PA spokesman said Friday.

Government media center head Ghassan Khatib confirmed that the government has received the balance of October and Novembers funds, which include customs duties collected by Israel and delivered to the PA.

Israel froze the transfers on Nov. 1, a day after the UN cultural agency UNESCO voted to admit Palestine, a move criticized by Israel and the US.

Payments usually amount to around $100 million a month, about half of the PA's domestic revenue.

Last week, Ramallah-based Prime Minister Salam Fayyad warned the Palestinian Authority was "fast approaching the point of being completely incapacitated" as Israel withheld the payments.

After international pressure, Israel released the funds on Thursday, and public sector employees will be paid before the end of the first week of December, Khatib said.




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