Just a week after a senior Palestinian Authority education official acknowledged that the PA prefers to fund terrorists rather than its children's education system, a prominent Palestinian economist has now admitted that the PA cannot pay civil servants because it has chosen to pay terrorists first.

General Union of Palestinian Economists Secretary Nasser Atyani: "We are talking about around 280 million shekels ($85.5 million) that are being deducted [by Israel] every month [of the Gaza war], which were earmarked for the Gaza Strip, aside from an additional amount of 55-60 million shekels ($16.8-18.3 million) that were earmarked for the families of the Martyrs (i.e., Israel deducts the amount of PA terror salaries)… We are saying that we have a problem with the [PA] budget and that there is no money, for example, to pay the salaries of the [PA] employees and cover the expenses."

[Official PA TV, The Economic Discourse, Oct. 29, 2025]