The year 2022 was the deadliest in the West Bank and East Jerusalem since 2006 with more than 220 Palestinians, including high-profile names like prominent journalist Shireen Abu Akleh, killed by Israeli forces.
Addressing a Cabinet meeting in the West Bank city of Ramallah Tuesday, Prime Minister Mohammad Shtayyeh said nearly 832 Palestinian-owned buildings have also been demolished by Israel this year.
He described 2022 as "full of pain" for Palestinians "during which more than 220 Palestinians were killed by Israeli soldiers, more than 9,000 were wounded, 6,500 were detained, 832 buildings were demolished, and 13,000 olive trees were uprooted."
Shtayyeh said his government has managed to achieve a 3.6% growth rate.
According to the premier, the unemployment rate in the occupied West Bank dropped from 19% to 12.6%, while it remained at 46% in the blockaded Gaza Strip.
Shtayyeh voiced hope that the flow of international aid and donations, especially from Arab countries, will be restored in 2023.
The Palestinian Authority was unable to pay more than 80% of the salary for public sector employees over the past year due to Israeli deductions from Palestinian tax revenues.
The tax revenues – known in Palestine and Israel as maqasa – are collected by the Israeli government on behalf of the Palestinian Authority on Palestinian imports and exports. Israel in return earns a commission of 3% of collected revenues.
The collected revenues are estimated at around $30-33 million every month, representing the main source of income for the Palestinian Authority.
A total of 950 houses and facilities were demolished and more than 28021 acres of Palestinian lands were confiscated by Israeli forces in 2022, a non-governmental organization (NGO) later confirmed last week.
The Land Research Center, operating in Palestine, issued a report on "Israeli Violations Against Palestinian Land and Housing Rights for 2022" and said Israeli forces also torched, ravaged, or attacked, 18,900 trees, most of them fruitful olive trees.
Meanwhile, 66 water harvesting cisterns, as well as 916 acres of rehabilitated lands and pastures were destroyed or ravaged, it noted.
The Israeli government announced 114 new settlement plans this year, while 2,220 residential units were built for 815,400 illegal Jewish settlers living on Palestinian lands, according to the report.
The Palestinian Authority (PA) decried plans Wednesday by the incoming Israeli government to accelerate settlement-building in the occupied West Bank.
Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu said his government will promote settlement-building in the West Bank and the Syrian Golan Heights.
Israeli and Palestinian estimates indicate about 650,000 settlers living in 164 settlements and 116 outposts in the West Bank, including in occupied Jerusalem.
Under international law, all Jewish settlements in occupied territories are considered illegal.
