Shtayyeh: Israel’s New Sanctions Will Not Stop Palestinian Diplomatic Efforts

Ramallah, MINA – Palestinian Prime Minister Mohammad Shtayyeh said that Israel’s new sanctions in the form of cutting Palestinian tax funds announced by the right-wing government will not stop Palestinian diplomatic efforts in international forums to achieve independence.

He acknowledged that the cuts to the Palestinian tax fund announced by the right-wing government would exacerbate the deficit in the Palestinian economy.

“But that won’t stop us from continuing our political and diplomatic paths in all international forums to achieve our independence and statehood,” Shtayyeh said, as quoted from Wafa on Saturday.

Shtayyeh called on all countries that condemn the storming of Al Aqsa Mosque by Israel’s racist minister Itamar Ben-Gvir and Israel’s crime of daily killings in Palestine to translate their statements into action, and put an end to these crimes.

Israel’s Ministerial Committee for National Security Affairs ordered the deduction of some NIS 139 million (nearly $39 million) from Palestinian Authority funds to support so-called “Israeli victims of terrorism”.

The Israeli Ministerial Committee also ordered reimbursement of welfare payments made by the Palestinian government, to Palestinian prisoners in Israeli prisons and their families killed by the Israeli occupation forces in 2022.

Bezalel Smotrich, Israel’s new right-wing Finance Minister, said the new sanctions were only the beginning, and that “anyone who acts against us will pay a heavy price”.

Smotrich said in a tweet that the “government alliance agreement confirms taking steps to end salaries and benefits paid to prisoners and families of martyrs. (T/RE1)

Mi’raj News Agency (MINA)