Palestinian minister calls on Israel to release $4 billion of tax revenues

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Palestinian minister calls on Israel to release $4 billion of tax revenues  Euronews spoke with Estephan Salameh, Palestinian Minister of Planning and International Cooperation, on the sidelines of the Palestine Donor Group conference in Brussels.   READ MORE : http://www.euronews.com/2025/11/24/palestinian-minister-calls-on-israel-to-release-4-billion-of-tax-revenues  Subscribe to our channel. Euronews is available on Dailymotion in 12 languages

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00:00The EU has confirmed a financial contribution of 82 million euros to the Palestinian Authority

00:06to support stabilization efforts in the West Bank at the first meeting of the Palestine Donner Group in Brussels on Thursday.

00:13The Palestinian Minister of Planning and International Cooperation tells Euronews

00:18this renewed financial support is key to keep the Palestinian Authority afloat

00:23and to provide basic services to the Palestinian people.

00:26Yet, the Minister says that the best way to strengthen the Palestinian Authority's financial situation

00:32is the release of 4 billion dollars of tax revenues withheld by Israel.

00:37Under the 1993 Oslo Accords, Israel collects taxes and custom duties imposed on goods imported into Palestinian territories

00:44and is then supposed to transfer the funds to the Palestinian Authority.

00:49Israel has been withholding our tax revenues for almost six consecutive months.

00:54We haven't received our money from Israel for six consecutive months

01:00and that money constitutes 68% of the Palestinian revenues.

01:06No country in the world can function without 68% of its revenues.

01:12The 60 delegations attending the Palestine Donner Group meeting

01:15also stressed the need for the Palestinian Authority

01:18to pursue its fiscal, economic, governance, social and education reforms.

01:23We have also what we call the reform matrix between us and the European Union.

01:30It is built around four main pillars and 53 actions or milestones.

01:39So far, we are overachieving.

01:42So what we have achieved out of the 53 milestones,

01:45we have achieved 21 of the key milestones.

01:49And then the rest are already scheduled to be implemented next year and in 2027.

01:55This meeting took place a few days after the adoption of the UN Security Council resolution

02:00on the US-led Gaza Peace Plan

02:02and shows that the EU still hopes to play a role in the Gaza conflict resolution.

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