RAMALLAH, West Bank — Under the patronage of Palestinian Prime Minister Mohammad Shtayyeh, the Jerusalem District Electricity Company (JDECO) signed Dec. 29 with eight banks operating in the Palestinian territories a memorandum of understanding under which the banks shall buy JDECO’s entire debt to the Israel Electric Corporation (IEC), which amounts to 670 million shekels ($191.4 million). This is provided that the government pays the banks its financial dues to JDECO in the form of monthly installments.

This agreement followed Shtayyeh’s remarks Dec. 19 that his government decided to settle the electricity bills on behalf of all Palestinian camps. They include bills that have accumulated over the past years and monthly bills that will be issued in 2020.

In a press statement explaining Shtayyeh’s remarks on the same day, Palestinian government spokesperson Ibrahim Melhem indicated this is a part of the government’s efforts to get JDECO — the largest electricity distribution company in the West Bank — out of its crisis. 

Melhem noted that it was agreed upon with the company on some steps to improve its debt collection, particularly from the businesses set up in the camps, adding the government will pay the electricity bills on behalf of the camps located in JDECO's concession areas in Ramallah, Bethlehem, Jerusalem and Jericho.