The Palestinian Authority will pay government salaries for January in a week, but has yet to specify a date, the public sector workers union said Thursday.

Union chief Bassam Zakarneh insisted the PA must set a date to pay January wages, after a meeting with ministers in Ramallah.

Zakarneh said in a statement that the union informed a ministerial committee that government staff were struggling to buy basic necessities and could not afford transport to work.

Zakarneh called on civil servants not to strike unless further action is announced.

Since November, Israel has withheld Palestinian tax revenue it collects on behalf of the PA, exacerbating the government's financial crisis. The PA's 153,000 public sector workers have received partial salaries, which have repeatedly been paid late.