Posted on 01/13/2004 6:17:44 PM PST by NormsRevenge
RAMALLAH, West Bank -
Hit by waning support from fatigued donor nations, the Palestinian Authority (news - web sites) has been forced to borrow from banks to pay salaries to its 125,000 employees and may be unable to meet its February payroll, the economy minister said Tuesday.
Meanwhile, an Israeli settler was shot dead in a West Bank ambush, and a Palestinian was shot and killed by Israeli soldiers in the Gaza Strip (news - web sites).
With unemployment rampant outside the public payroll, Palestinians could be facing unprecedented economic collapse after three years of conflict with Israel.
"We took loans from the bank for the past couple of months to pay salaries," Palestinian Economy Minister Maher Masri told The Associated Press. "If this situation continues ... we will not be able to provide salaries next month."
Masri did not disclose the size of the loans, but figures are likely to be made public when Palestinian Finance Minister Salam Fayad presents the 2004 budget to parliament next week.
After nightfall, Palestinians opened fire on an Israeli vehicle at the entrance to the settlement of Talmon, near the West Bank city of Ramallah, killing Roi Arbel from Talmon and wounding two others, the military said. Arbel, a 28-year-old father of five whose wife gave birth to triplets two months ago, was the first Israeli to be killed in a Palestinian attack this year.
The Al-Aqsa Martyrs' Brigades, a militant group with links to Yasser Arafat (news - web sites)'s Fatah (news - web sites) faction, claimed responsibility for the shooting attack.
In the southern Gaza Strip, Israeli troops killed a Palestinian who opened fire on them, the army said, while in the West Bank, Israeli troops conducted house-to-house searches in the Tulkarem refugee camp for a second day. Palestinian witnesses said about 200 residents were rounded up for questioning.
The Israeli military said it arrested six suspects, including one man who allegedly planned to carry out a suicide bombing in Israel. The operation ended at nightfall and Israeli forces withdrew, lifting a curfew, the military said.
Also Tuesday, Israeli Prime Minister Ariel Sharon (news - web sites) hinted that Israel might pull out of the Gaza Strip. His comments came as he is pushing mostly undisclosed plans for unilateral pullbacks from the West Bank and Gaza Strip if peace talks fail.
A day earlier, Sharon pledged to bring such moves to a parliament vote after consulting his coalition partners and international allies — a way of giving hard-line parties a possible veto over evacuating Jewish settlements.
Visiting the town of Segev Shalom in the Negev desert, Sharon welcomed Bedouin soldiers who had served in the Gaza Strip. "I hope that the day will come when we won't have to be in the (Gaza) Strip and you will really be free to do things that are more important."
About 7,000 Israelis live in 17 settlements in the Gaza Strip among more than 1 million Palestinians. Several or the settlements are isolated in heavily populated areas and are considered prime objects for removal under any redeployment plan.
Sharon has said that if talks on the U.S.-backed "road map" peace plan do not progress in the coming months, he would order unilateral steps to disengage from the Palestinians, including imposing a temporary border with the West Bank and moving some Jewish settlements in the West Bank and Gaza.
However, Sharon has not given specific details of his plan, saying it is still being prepared. He appointed Maj. Gen. Giora Eiland, the incoming head of his security council, to direct the planning.
Palestinians say Israeli travel restrictions and frequent military operations have ruined their economy. Israel says the restrictions are necessary to prevent terror attacks, pointing to frequent charges of corruption in the Palestinian leadership as a reason for the malaise.
World Bank (news - web sites) figures show about 40 percent of the Palestinian work force is unemployed and 60 percent of the population live on less than $2 per person per day.
Masri said the Palestinian Authority has a monthly income of about $20 million and expenditures of at least $85 million.
The World Bank says donors have grown weary at the lack of progress toward peace, while the Palestinians are facing a $400 million shortfall.
"They are facing a crisis and it's getting worse," Norwegian Mideast envoy Jakken Biorn Lian said by phone from Oslo. "They need extra contributions."
Masri said that Arab declarations of support for the Palestinians were not being matched by remittances, with only Saudi Arabia and Libya agreeing to send money. "The Palestinian cause is not the world's highest priority these days," he said.
LOL
Ya$$er ,,, Better check your investments , Dude!!!
They need extra contributions.
Norwegian Mideast envoy Jakken Biorn Lian
uhh.. the bank that doesn't want to get blown up? ;-)
Will you write a check on one of your Swiss accounts to cover the payroll? Or do we hogtie your sorry ass and feed you to the pigs?
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