24 • The Independent Commission for Human Rights - ICHR Paying for health insurance, at a cost of ILS 5 million. Of note, the payments above are not sufficient to meet the needs of Palestinian political prisoners. Through the Israeli mail system, families send amounts to prisoners so that they can buy their daily necessities in Israeli prisons and detention centres. Prisoners are obliged to buy from canteens at much higher prices set by the Israeli Prison Service. 1.1.2 National economy Israeli policies and continued control over Palestinian economic resources and economy sectors have posed challenges to economic growth. Vulnerable Palestinian economy has continued to be crippled by Israeli measures and full control over economic resources in Area C. The Separation Wall, Wall gates, and settlement expansion are among the most significant barriers to Palestinian economy.13 1.1.2.1 Persisting clearance revenue crisis and ongoing financial deductions The Israeli occupying authorities have continued to deduct clearance revenues. Since the beginning of 2022, clearance revenue deductions have exceeded US$ 1.4 billion. Creating one of the greatest challenges to the Palestinian Authority (PA), this has adversely impacted the Palestinian government’s ability to pay the salaries of civil servants and fulfil existing commitments. Projections of the Ministry of Finance (MoF) indicated that, in 2021, the budget deficit would be close to 5.2 percent of GDP, forcing the government to resort to borrowing from local banks and further precipitating the public debt crisis. By the end of November 2021, public debt amounted to some US$ 3.8 billion, increasing by 5.2 and 37.4 percent in comparison to 2020 and 2019 respectively. 1.1.2.2 Control over Palestinian economic resources The Israeli occupying authorities have continued to further expand settlements, effectively seizing control of 62 percent of resource-rich West Bank land as well as of 85 percent of Palestinian water sources. According to a report of the United Nations Conference on Trade and Development (UNCTAD), in 2021, the occupation is the cause of the economic predicament in Palestine. Ending the occupation is the only key to sustainable development. According to the UNCTAD, the Palestinian territory is affected by poor productivity, geographical split, loss of land and natural resources to settlements, fragmentation of markets, constrained importation of inputs and technology, and leakage of financial resources into Israel. The economy of Gaza has been drained by the Israeli blockade and military operations. The cumulative economic cost of the stricter Israeli restrictions, in the period 2000-2019, is estimated at US$ 58 billion.14 Israeli control over the vast land richly endowed with red sand and stone has prevented the installation of Palestinian extractive industries (quarries and stone crushers) in Area C. During the reporting period, the Ministry of National Economy (MoNE) was only able to license two new quarries and renew licences of 51 others. Quarrying is a promising export sector in Palestine, with annual exports of some US$ 115 million. Failure to provide sufficient water supply to Palestinian governorates 13 14 Ministry of National Economy. Israeli Violations of the Palestinian Economy in 2021. Ramallah, January 2022. UNCTAD. The Economic Costs of the Israeli Occupation for the Palestinian People: Arrested Development and Poverty in the West Bank, 24 June 2021. The report was submitted to the United Nations on 29 November 2021, which marked the Day of Solidarity with the Palestinian People. The Situation of Human Rights in Palestine