The Palestinian Authority government has decided to continue providing humanitarian aid to the residents of the Gaza Strip and to establish a ministerial committee to coordinate the transfer of aid through the Arab and international agencies to ensure that this aid arrives as soon as possible.
Speaking at a cabinet meeting in Ramallah on Monday, PA cabinet leader Mohammad Shtayyeh said that there is still no agreement between Israel and Norway regarding the holding of the Palestinian Authority's tax funds that Israel offsets, and therefore the idea of transferring the funds to Norway does not solve the problem, even though it takes the funds out of Israel's hands.
Commenting on the Rafah crossing, Shtayyeh stressed that the crossing is Gaza's gateway to Egypt, and even if Israel closes it, the Palestinian Arabs will open it.
The PA cabinet leader welcomed the US administration's decision to impose sanctions on "extremist settlers" and expressed hope that other countries would take similar steps.
Shtayyeh called for sanctions to be imposed not only on a small number of “settlers”, but rather on "the entire settlement enterprise", to confiscate goods and to demand that “settlers” with dual citizenship leave the area.