BRUSSELS—The European Union has announced over €22 million of additional humanitarian assistance in support of the most vulnerable people in Gaza and the West Bank. It will focus on emergency preparedness and response, health, food security and protection activities for the most vulnerable, and be implemented through the United Nations and international partners.
But in the meantime, the Palestinian Authority rejected an EU proposal that payments to Palestinian prisoners and their families should be integrated into the Palestinian welfare system.
The proposal was made as part of an effort by the EU to prevent the financial collapse of the Palestinian Authority after the PA refused to accept tax revenues collected for it by Israel.
European Commissioner in charge of the EU Neighborhood Policy and Enlargement Negotiations, Johannes Hahn, whose office is in charge of EU financial support to the PA, told a meeting in Brussels of the so-called ‘’Ad Hoc Liaison Committee’’, a body which meets twice per year to discuss donor funding to the PA, said: “We are all aware of the fiscal crisis the PA is facing and of the potential human, social and security consequences. Both sides need to move towards a solution.”
He added: “Israel’s decision to withhold clearance revenues violates current arrangements. At the same time, we do not support the system of Palestinian payments to ‘prisoners and martyrs.”
He said the EU is ready ‘’to work with the Palestinian Authority to see how beneficiaries of the current scheme could be integrated on the basis of need rather than any other criteria into the PA’s regular social allowance system,’’ removing any financial incentive for terrorism.
But the PA rejected the EU proposal. The head of the PLO Prisoners Affairs office, Qadri Abu Bakr said: “We’re talking about a very principled issue for the Palestinian people. The prisoners are freedom fighters and from our perspective they have the status of security forces. They are getting a pension because they are security personnel.”
The Ad Hoc Liaison Committee, a 15-member committee chaired by Norway and which includes representatives from the EU, the US, the UN, Arab League, Israel and the PA, met earlier this week to try and find a solution to the PA’s funding crisis, but failed to find a resolution.
The funding crisis was sparked when Israel announced it would withhold from the PA’s tax revenues an amount equivalent to what the PA spends on salaries to convicted terrorists and their families. The PA responded by refusing to accept any tax revenues fEUrom Israel, which make up around 65 per cent of its budget according to the UN.
EU foreign affairs chief Federica Mogherini, said that the Ad Hoc Liaison Committee ‘’gathered not only to renew our continued support to the Palestinians, but also to uphold the perspective of a two-state solution. Our economic assistance to the Palestinians cannot be separated from this political objective. We want to preserve the space for new negotiations because we want peace and security for Palestinians and Israelis alike.”