The European Commission has given the green light to a second tranche of assistance of €25 million for the Palestinian Authority.
It says this will contribute to the payment of salaries and pensions of Palestinian civil servants and disbursed €16 million for UNRWA to provide basic services such as health and education to Palestinian refugees.
The €25 million payment under PEGASE will, says the EC, help the Palestinian Authority to meet part of its commitments towards Palestinian civil servants in the West Bank.
“At this critical juncture, it will provide a much-needed contribution to the significant challenges facing the Palestinian economy, in particular before Eid al-Adha,” said an EC spokesman.
The payment, announced late on Fridy, is the second tranche disbursed to the Palestinian Authority as part of the €118.4 million assistance package adopted in December 2023.
The first €25 million payment were disbursed in March.
The spokesman added, “The payment of the second tranche has been also carried out in conformity with the conclusions of the review of EU financial assistance to Palestine after the tragic events on 7 October 2023, including the extended screening of the beneficiaries.”
The EC says the latest EU assistance 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.
The Commission has also processed the payment corresponding to the second tranche of €16 million.
This new payment to UNRWA brings to €66 million the EU’s total development assistance out of the €82 million for the UN Agency in 2024.
The European Union is the biggest provider of external assistance to the Palestinians which amounts to almost €1.2 billion for 2021-2024 under the European Joint Strategy, of which €809.4 million have already been adopted.
The spokesman said, “The PEGASE programme aims to contribute to a democratic, accountable, economically viable Palestinian state as well as the fulfilment of social rights. PEGASE provides for robust ex ante and ex post screening of beneficiaries carried out by an independent audit company.”
He added, “The EU is already reflecting on a more mid-term package to support the Palestinians and the reform agenda of the new Palestinian Government, with the aim of contributing to lay the ground for economic and political stability of Gaza and the West Bank, in cooperation with the international community, once conditions allow on the ground.”
