Palestinian Prime Minister Ismail Haniyeh pledged on Tuesday to pay salaries within days to thousands of government employees who have not received wages since March as a result of an international funds freeze. Haniyeh, in comments to his Hamas-led government, did not disclose the source of the funds. I guess al-Qaeda's check cleared.
Palestinian banks have so far refused to transfer money to the Authority, fearing U.S. sanctions.
And there ends our intrepid Rooters reporter's probing investigation of where the cash came from.....
"I would like to announce that the Ministry of Finance will begin to pay a full month's wages to those earning a monthly salary of up to 1,500 shekels ($332). The number of those employees is 40,000," Haniyeh said.
He also promised to pay each of the other 125,000 government workers, who earn higher salaries, an advance of 1,500 shekels. Cabinet spokesman Ghazi Hamad said the money would come from donations and internal revenues. There would be no banking complications, he added without elaborating.
The pledged payments could total nearly $55 million. The Palestinian Authority's monthly salary bill is $120 million.
International donors have frozen payments to the government, demanding Hamas, an Islamic militant group that came to power after a January election, recognize Israel, renounce violence and accept previous interim peace deals. Hamas, whose charter calls for Israel's destruction, has said negotiations with the Jewish state would be pointless.
In the West Bank city of Ramallah, some 1,200 unpaid civil servants held a protest outside the prime minister's office, demanding their pay.
People getting uppity makes the leadership get nervous, I see...
Haniyeh made the pledge as the clock ticked down on a 10-day ultimatum from moderate Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas to soften its hard line against Israel or face a referendum on peacemaking in July. Abbas's deadline ends this weekend.