Piles of shekels and a looming ‘crisis’: Palestinian trade finance under threat

# Piles of shekels and a looming ‘crisis’: Palestinian trade finance under threat

> Evidence tier: B1
> Evidence type: Independent trade-finance reporting with regulator-attributed risks
> Source: [Global Trade Review](https://www.gtreview.com/news/mena/piles-of-shekels-and-a-looming-crisis-palestinian-trade-finance-under-threat)
> Published: 2026-10-07
> Captured: 2026-10-08T02:58:17.049Z

## Source summary

GTR reports the Palestine Monetary Authority's warning that temporary correspondent arrangements and shekel-repatriation limits strain import finance. Governor Yahya Shunnar says arrangements with the two Israeli correspondent banks extend through end-2026 and no actual severance or reported client-level declined transactions has occurred. He reports surplus cash of about NIS 18 billion by mid-2026. The projected crisis is a risk warning, not a confirmed closure of payment channels.

## Why it matters

The report separates physical cash accumulation, correspondent continuity and trade-payment capacity, while retaining attribution and uncertainty.

## Key numbers

- **He reports surplus cash of about NIS by mid-2026:** 18 billion

## Topics and entities

- Industry lane: Cross-border market
- Entities: Palestine Monetary Authority / Israel Discount Bank / Bank Hapoalim
- Cross-border payments

## Evidence and credibility note

Source body read; source claims, event stage and limits remain attributed.

Date evidence: Automatically verified from article:published_time: 2026-10-07T15:31:26+00:00

## First-party corroboration

No directly corresponding A1 company announcement is currently linked.

## Original-source traceback

[Open the original Global Trade Review report](https://www.gtreview.com/news/mena/piles-of-shekels-and-a-looming-crisis-palestinian-trade-finance-under-threat)

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This is a structured Payments Hot Markdown source summary derived from external reporting. Use the original link above to read the publisher's article; copyright remains with the original publisher.