EU announces $1.8 billion in new aid for Palestinians

LUXEMBOURG (AFP) — The European Union on Monday announced a new three-year financial support package for the Palestinians worth up to 1.6 billion euros ($1.8 billion).

The fresh aid pledge came just ahead of a meeting between Palestinian Prime Minister Mohammed Mustafa and EU foreign ministers in Luxembourg.

"We are stepping up our support to the Palestinian people. €1.6 billion until 2027 will help stabilize the West Bank and Gaza," EU foreign policy chief Kaja Kallas wrote on X.

The EU is looking to boost the Palestinian Authority as Israel has resumed its war in Gaza after a ceasefire largely put a halt to the fighting for two months.

"This will reinforce the PA's ability to meet the needs of the Palestinian people in the West Bank and prepare it to return to govern Gaza once conditions allow," Kallas said.

Brussels — the biggest international donor to the Palestinians — said the package would include $705 million in grants for the Palestinian Authority.

The funds will be linked to reforms on "fiscal sustainability, democratic governance, private sector development and public infrastructure and services," the EU said.

The rest will be made up of $655 million in grants for projects aimed at helping economic recovery in Gaza, the West Bank and East Jerusalem.

A further $450 million in loans would come from the bloc's lending arm, the European Investment Bank.

The EU's new package follows on from the previous three-year support plan worth $1.55 billion from 2021 to 2024.

—

By Agence France-Presse