Revealed: West Bank petrol station chain faces $325m claim in PA fuel-smuggling probe

Detailed summary

Revealed: West Bank petrol station chain faces $325m claim in PA fuel-smuggling probe Submitted by Simon Hooper on Wed, 11/11/2026 - 12:12 Leaked finance ministry report accuses…

A petrol station chain owned by one of the West Bank’s wealthiest businessmen is facing accusations of alleged fuel smuggling, financial misconduct and tax evasion totalling more than 1bn shekels ($325m), according to a leaked report seen by Middle East Eye.

The investigation, which has unfolded against a backdrop of worsening fuel shortages in the occupied Palestinian territory, has led to the arrest and weeks-long detention of Tarek al-Natsheh, the chairman of Al-Huda Group, as well as raids by security forces on his company’s offices and the confiscation of computers and financial records.

Lawyers for Natsheh, who is accused in the report of profiting from smuggling activities, say he denies wrongdoing and stands ready to pay any taxes he may legally owe.

MEE sent a detailed list of questions and a request for comment to Malek al-Awri, legal adviser for the defence team, ahead of publication of this article. Awri referred MEE to a previous statement he had given to the Palestinian Watan newspaper last month.

MEE has also asked the Palestinian Authority’s Ministry of Finance, which commissioned the report, for comment.

Al-Huda Group controls a number of businesses in the West Bank, including Al-Huda Fuel Group, which operates a network of 28 petrol stations across the territory.

On 10 July, one of its fuel tankers was seized in Jericho on suspicion of transporting smuggled petrol, prompting PA Finance Minister Estephan Anton Salameh to appoint an audit committee to investigate the company’s operations.

In a report seen by MEE, which is understood to date from early September, the committee called for Al-Huda to pay 1,003,189,811 shekels ($322.5m) to the public treasury, which it said was owed as a result of alleged financial misconduct, tax evasion and smuggling dating back to 2020.

This consisted of 712,736,591 shekels owed in VAT, unpaid fuel duty and other taxes based on the company’s own records and accounting figures, and 290,453,220 shekels covering a further…

Opening of the article, excerpted from Middle East Eye. To read the rest, open the article on the publisher's site.