RAMALLAH, Monday, April 29, 2019 (WAFA) – Prime Minister Mohammad Shtayyeh heads to Brussels later today to attend a meeting for the Ad Hoc Liaison Committee (AHLC) of donor countries scheduled to start tomorrow.

Foreign Minister Riyad Malki told Voice of Palestine radio that the participation of Shtayyeh in the meeting will be an opportunity to urge the donor states of the necessity of taking measures to force Israel to give back all the Palestinian tax revenues.

He said the latest money transfer was returned to Israel this month with a letter from the Finance Ministry saying it will accept this money only if it is complete without any deductions.

Israel has been deducting millions of dollars every month from the Palestinian tax revenues it collects on its behalf on goods destined to the occupied Palestinian territories, claiming the money deducted was equivalent to the amount the PA pays families of Palestinian prisoners held in Israeli jails for resisting the occupation and those killed by Israeli forces.

Meanwhile, Palestine’s ambassador to Brussels, Abdul Rahim Farra, said a preliminary meeting will be held this afternoon while the AHLC meeting on Palestine headed by Norway will kick off tomorrow in the presence of Federica Mogherini, the European Union’s foreign policy chief.

Farra said that another meeting will be simultaneously held tomorrow morning at the request of the European Commission and at its headquarters to discuss the water situation in Palestine.

He said several organizations, including  the World Bank, the Islamic Development Bank, and the European Investment Bank will attend the water conference in the presence of the head of the Palestinian Water Authority Mazen Ghneim to discuss solutions for the water problem in Palestine including the seawater desalination project for the Gaza Strip.

M.K.