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The London-based media outlet New Arab reported Wednesday that Arab aid for the Palestinian Authority (PA) plummeted by as much as 85% in 2020.
According to the report, while in the first seven months of 2019, Ramallah received $267 million from Arab states, this year's figure stands at a mere $38 million.
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Palestinian Authority President Mahmoud Abbas gestures during a meeting with the Palestinian leadership to discuss the United Arab Emirates' deal with Israel to normalize relations
(Photo: EPA)
Coupled with a slump in other foreign funding, this has resulted in PA's coffers shrinking by some 70 percent, the report said.
While the global COVID-19 coronavirus pandemic may explain a hefty chunk of the decline, the New Arab reports that PA officials suspect this recent decline could be linked with the recent normalization accords between Israel and two Arab Gulf states.
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(L-R) U.S. President Donald J. Trump, Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu, UAE Foreign Affairs Minister Sheikh Abdullah bin Zayed bin Sultan Al Nahyan and Bahrain Foreign Affairs Minister Sheikh Khalid Bin Ahmed Al-Khalifa during the Abraham Accords signing ceremony
(Photo: AP)
The report cites PA Foreign Minister Riyad Al-Maliki as saying that Arab states have failed to live up to the decision to provide Ramallah with a financial safety net of some $100 million reached at various summits.
According to the Arabic-language edition of the New Arab, U.S. President Donald Trump told Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu that he urged wealthy Arab nations to slash funding for Palestinians.
Earlier this month, Israel signed the historic Abraham Accords in Washington, with the United Arab Emirates and Bahrain, in a deal brokered by U.S. President Trump.
Following the agreement an Israeli delegation took off to Bahrain on Wednesday, to hash out the details of the normalization agreement between the two countries.