The Palestinian economy is losing hundreds of millions of dollars every year over outdated or insufficiently enforced fiscal agreements with Israel, a World Bank report said Monday.
The lost revenue of $285 million annually was equivalent to 2.2 percent of Palestinian gross domestic product, according to the report prepared ahead of the biannual meeting of the Ad Hoc Liaison Committee, which coordinates international donor support for the Palestinians.
Earlier this month, Israeli and Palestinian officials agreed to end several days of rolling blackouts in the occupied West Bank over what Israel says is some $450 million in arrears for electricity supplied by Israel.
During 50 days of fighting, more than 2,200 Palestinians were killed, over half of them civilians, according to U.N. and Palestinian estimates. Seventy-three people, including six civilians, were killed on the Israeli side.
A year and half later, Qatar has delivered only $152 million, or 15 percent of what was promised, according to the World Bank.
In contrast, the United States, the No. 4 donor, has delivered all of the $277 million it pledged, while the European Union, the No. 3 donor, has sent nearly three-quarters of the $348 million it promised, according to the figures.
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