Europe announces $274m Palestinian aid package

The European Commission announces that it has approved a new assistance package for the Palestinians worth €252.5 million ($274.1 million).

In a press release, the Commission says it is the first part of the 2016 package, €170.5 million of which is set to be funneled directly to the Palestinian Authority, with a focus on education and health services, support for hospitals in East Jerusalem, and assistance to poor families.

The remaining €82 million will go to the United Nations Relief and Works Agency in the Near East (UNRWA).

The statement says a second package will be announced later in the year.

“The European Union renews its concrete commitment to the Palestinians,” Federica Mogherini, the EU high representative for foreign affairs, says.

“Through this package, the EU supports the daily lives of Palestinians in the fields of education and health, protecting the poorest families and also providing the Palestinian refugees with access to essential services. These are tangible steps on the ground that can improve the lives of Palestinian people,” she adds.

Mogherini calls on the PA to “become more transparent, more accountable and more democratic” and uphold human rights, which she says are prerequisites for the establishment of a sovereign Palestinian State “living side by side, in peace and security, with the State of Israel and other neighbors.”

While the press release refers to the Palestinian Authority as Palestine, it notes that the designation “shall not be construed as recognition of a State of Palestine and is without prejudice to the individual positions of the Member States on this issue.”