Observers have long feared that financial mismanagement by Palestinian officials – a function of endemic corruption, and coupled with political illegitimacy – would prevent the emergence of a stable Palestinian economy. A functioning economy is considered a critical prerequisite in efforts to achieve a viable Palestinian state, lest that state fail. This will  not dampen worries:

Palestinian private hospitals on Monday stopped admitting Palestinian Authority military personnel because of the government’s outstanding bills. The federation of private hospitals decided to start refusing treatment to patients referred by the PA’s military medical services because their debt to hospitals reached 30 million shekels ($8.34 million), federation chief Dr Nitham Nijab said.

The news comes in the aftermath of a similar announcement by private West Bank gas stations, which have begun refusing to accept tenders in exchange for fuel.

Palestinians broadly blame political corruption for economic turbulance. A Palestinian man recently set himself on fire in front of the PA’s West Bank finance ministry to protest the PA’s inability to move promised funds to former prisoners.

[Photo: Chesdovi / Wiki Commons]