Palestinian president fires advisers

RAMALLAH, Palestinian Territories: Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas has fired all of his advisers, his office said on Monday, amid a financial crisis in the occupied West Bank that has prompted deep salary cuts.

Abbas’s office did not provide further details on the number of advisers or the costs involved, pointing only to a brief statement issued through official Palestinian news agency WAFA. The move comes amid a spending crunch following Israel’s decision in February to withhold around $10 million a month in tax transfers.

Israel collects some $190 million a month in customs duties levied on goods destined for Palestinian markets that transit through its ports. It then transfers the money to the Palestinian government.

The amount it deducted -- $138 million for the year -- corresponds to what Israel says the Palestinian Authority paid prisoners in Israeli jails, or their families, in 2018.