PA employs 37,000 people in Gaza, including 17,000 Security Forces who do nothing
While donor countries continue sending hundreds of millions in aid for Palestinian Authority salaries, they might want to ask a simple question: What are we paying for?
In a staggering admission on official PA TV, a Palestinian economic expert revealed the existence of an entirely useless financial drain:
Economic expert Muayyad Afaneh: "We have about 17,000 [PA] Security [Forces] employees in the Gaza Strip, and 20,000 civil employees. They are still receiving salaries from the PA, and there are many services in the Gaza Strip that the PA is spending money on."
[Official PA TV, The Economic Discourse, Jan. 3, 2026]
Significantly, 17,000 PA Security Forces members are in Gaza, where Hamas' military—not the PA—has ruled since 2007.
These PA Security Forces have no authority and no involvement in Gazan policing. Hamas does not allow them to operate. Yet month after month, the PA pays their salaries, funded by international aid.
This financial farce is made worse by the fact that Israel has already made it clear that these PA Security Forces, who have misused their positions to disseminate terror in Judea and Samaria, will not have any post-war role in Gaza. So, what exactly is the PA paying for?
Furthermore, it is questionable how many civil employees are working, as much of Gaza's infrastructure has been destroyed because of Hamas terrorists using the civilian environment to hide its terror infrastructures, and Hamas has its own civil service.
Worse still, the economic expert on PA TV explained that PA employees in Gaza receive salaries equal to their counterparts in actual PA-controlled areas, despite doing nothing.
"Currently the PA is paying twice to the Gaza Strip. The first time is the money being held [by Israel], and the second time, it is still obligated to pay the allocations to the Gaza Strip [it does] to the West Bank, meaning the same salary rate a [PA] employee in the West Bank receives, an employee in the Gaza Strip receives."
[Official PA TV, The Economic Discourse, Jan. 3, 2026]
This is a slap in the face to American and European taxpayers who genuinely believe they are contributing to peace, governance, and development.
The Palestinian Authority's lack of respect for donor money is systemic. From glorifying terrorists with salaries and promotions to financing people not to work, the PA treats foreign aid like a bottomless ATM with no accountability.
It's time donors ask: Why are we paying salaries to people who protect nothing and serve no one?