Palestine: Arab and Islamic funds support development projects with approximately 72 million dollars.

The Palestinian government announced on Monday that Arab and Islamic funds have financed more than 210 development projects in the West Bank, Jerusalem, the Gaza Strip, and Palestinian refugee camps in Lebanon, with a total value of nearly 72 million dollars.

This announcement came during the signing ceremonies for the agreements related to the approval of these projects, under the patronage and in the presence of Prime Minister Mohammad Mustafa, in his office in Ramallah, according to a statement issued by his office.

The government stated, according to the statement, that the approved projects are in the most needy sectors, especially "education, public works, local governance, vocational training, health, economic empowerment, and community and rural development."

Regarding the funding, the statement said that "the Al-Aqsa Fund, managed by the Islamic Development Bank, provided 32.7 million dollars, and the Arab Fund for Economic and Social Development provided 38.5 million dollars."

The statement quoted Palestinian Prime Minister Mustafa as saying that these projects "represent a part of the executive steps for the broader government program, the national development and improvement program, which is being implemented within 10 vital initiatives covering important sectors."

He pointed out the continued efforts to strengthen the resilience of the Palestinian people "despite all circumstances and obstacles," adding that "the will of our people to live will always prevail over the will of the occupier to kill, destroy, and displace."

The support from Arab and Islamic funds comes at a time when the Palestinian Authority is suffering from a severe financial crisis, which the Prime Minister said on Thursday is "a direct result of Israel withholding Palestinian tax revenues, which has a political aim that has been declared by senior Israeli officials to destabilize the Palestinian Authority and push it towards collapse."

He called on donor countries and international partners for Palestine to pressure Israel to ensure the release of the "clearance" funds and to provide immediate support for the public budget for six months.

The withheld funds or "clearance" are taxes imposed on goods imported to the Palestinian side, whether from Israel or through border crossings controlled by Tel Aviv, which collects them for the benefit of the Palestinian Authority.

However, starting in 2019, Israel decided to deduct amounts from these funds under various pretexts, and then Tel Aviv stopped transferring any part of them for about six months, bringing the amount of withheld funds close to 4 billion dollars, which has plunged the Palestinian Authority into an unprecedented financial crisis.

The statement also quoted the Prime Minister's advisor for Arab and Islamic funds, Nasser Qatami, as saying that the role of Arab funds has not been limited to providing financing only, but has been a true partner in enhancing the resilience of the Palestinians.

He noted that these funds have contributed over 23 years to supporting thousands of development projects in all governorates, in the city of Jerusalem, and in refugee camps in Lebanon.

The number of Palestinian refugees in Lebanon exceeds 493,000 people, living in difficult conditions within camps that are managed security-wise by Palestinian factions, under informal understandings dating back to the "Cairo Agreement" of 1969.

More than half of them reside in 12 camps recognized by the United Nations Relief and Works Agency for Palestine Refugees in the Near East (UNRWA), and neither the army nor Lebanese security forces enter the camps, while the army imposes strict measures around them.