RAMALLAH, West Bank — The Palestinian Authority (PA) is witnessing one of its worst financial crises as it finds itself unable to fulfill its obligations toward the Palestinians with no light at the end of the tunnel.

Many reasons are behind the current crisis. Chief among these are the local economic repercussions of the coronavirus pandemic that led to a decline in the domestic revenues collected by the PA. Prior to that, US aid to the PA was halted due to the PA’s rejection of the US president’s peace plan in the Middle East, known as the “deal of the century.” Also, the PA stopped accepting clearance funds collected by Israel since its decision in June to end all agreements signed with Israel. And most recently, there has been a decline in Arab financial grants and aid allocated to the Palestinian state budget.

According to the Palestinian Ministry of Finance, Arab financial aid and grants for the Palestinian budget decreased by 81.6% during the first eight months of the year. This year, according to the ministry, the total grants and aid amounted to 132.3 million Israeli shekels ($39.2 million) from the beginning of the year until late August compared to 716 million shekels ($212 million) during the same period last year.

Remarkably, the Saudi support declined by 77.2% according to the ministry, as the total support since the beginning of this year amounted to 107 million shekels ($31.7 million), compared to $130 million last year. Meanwhile, Algeria has not provided any financial aid since the beginning of this year.