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$155m 2023-24 EU additional short term aid package to Palestinian Authority for West Bank & Gaza [1]

['This Content Is Not Subject To Review Daily Kos Staff Prior To Publication.']

Date: 2023-12-25

December 22, Al-Monitor and Reuters reported on the European Neighbourhood Policy and Enlargement Negotiations (DG NEAR) announcement of over €118 million (U$D130m) to the Palestinian Authority. The European Union has been the largest provider of external assistance to the Palestinians for the past decade.

DG NEAR:

The European Commission has adopted a €118.4 million assistance package to support the Palestinian Authority (PA) as part of the annual allocation for Palestine in 2023. Through the EU's PEGASE mechanism, the new financial assistance adopted will contribute to the payments of the salaries and pensions of civil servants in the West Bank, the social allowances for vulnerable families through the Cash Transfer Programme in the West Bank and Gaza, the payment for the medical referrals to the East Jerusalem Hospitals and support the administrative and technical capacity of the Palestinian Authority institutions. President of the European Commission, Ursula von der Leyen, said: “The situation in Gaza and the West Bank, including East Jerusalem, is very worrying. We have already quadrupled our humanitarian assistance to Gaza. After careful review of our funds, we are also announcing much needed assistance to the Palestinian Authority. The EU remains the largest international donor of aid to the Palestinians, and we are already reflecting on a wider mid-term package for next year to contribute to the economic and political stability of Gaza and the West Bank, once conditions allow on the ground, as part of wider international efforts to reinstate a two-state solution.”

The webpage continues with Background —e.g.:

This short-term package will complement a more mid-term package foreseen next year with the aim of contributing to lay the ground for economic and political stability of Gaza and the West Bank, including East Jerusalem and Area C, based on the two-state solution. This more substantial package will include a remainder of initially foreseen funds worth €61 million for projects in 2023 which will be presented next year once conditions on the ground allow. The PEGASE programme aims to contribute to a democratic, accountable, economically viable Palestinian state as well as the fulfilment of social rights. The PEGASE mechanism already foresees a strong system of control of all beneficiaries based on ex-ante and ex-post checks of the beneficiaries. The new programme will take into account the conclusions of the review. For more information EU - Palestine - Factsheet Overview EU support - website The Office of the European Union Representative (West Bank and Gaza Strip, UNRWA)

REUTERS:

..For 2024, the EU has also set aside 125 million euros in humanitarian aid for people in the besieged Gaza strip, where EU commissioner Josep Borrell said food shortages had reached unprecedented levels. "This is a grave development and should be a wakeup call for the whole world to act now to prevent a deadly human catastrophe," the EU's top diplomat said. "Aid needs to reach those in need through all necessary means, including humanitarian corridors and pauses for humanitarian needs." ($1 = 0.9078 euros)

AL-MONITOR

..The assistance ..., will go ... through the European Union’s Cash Transfer Program,... ...after [Oct. 7] the EU initially announced that it would freeze assistance to Gaza, but then [that] the program would be reviewed to guarantee that no funds would go to Hamas or its members. Von der Leyen and European Parliament President Roberta Metsola were among the first world leaders to visit Israel after [Oct 7], arriving on Oct. 13. The European Commission announced on Oct. 16 that it was establishing a humanitarian air bridge to ... Gaza, which was by then under Israeli aerial bombardment. Humanitarian assistance equipment, including shelters, medicines and hygiene kits were to be flown to Egypt, said the commission, and transferred to the enclave via the Rafah crossing. The Dec. 22 aid package does not include emergency humanitarian relief aid, which is budgeted separately. On Nov. 6, the [EC] announced that it would provide a further €25 million in humanitarian aid to Gaza, bringing [the 2023 EU total to Gaza] to €100 million. This additional assistance was to be provided to humanitarian organizations on the ground, to deliver life-saving aid, especially water and sanitation materials, health equipment and food.

Related, from Al-Monitor email December 23:

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