GAZA CITY, Gaza Strip — The Palestinian Authority (PA) continues moving forward toward an economic disengagement from Israel, particularly since the Palestinians have accused Israel of violating the 1994 Paris Protocol on Economic Relations. On Feb. 17, Israel deducted around 502 million shekels ($139 million) of Palestinian customs revenues, claiming that this is equivalent to the amount paid by the PLO in stipends for Palestinian prisoners in Israeli jails and the families of Palestinian victims killed or wounded in confrontations with Israel in 2018. This has dragged the Palestinian government into a crippling financial crisis.

On June 6, Minister of National Economy Khaled al-Osaily spoke of the Palestinian efforts to replace Israeli oil with Russian or Arab oil, on the sidelines of the St. Petersburg International Economic Forum in Russia.

“We hope we manage to import any crude oil particularly from Russia or any Arab country in order for us to be less reliant on Israeli oil. We have various options. … I believe that the Russian oil is a possible option that we hope we could import,” Osaily told Russia’s Sputnik.

He said that Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas and his government are concerned with the import of Russian oil, adding, “It is however too early to speak of the quantities.”