The EU announced a new aid packaged intended to help “stabilize the West Bank and Gaza.” Meanwhile, Israel has hit back of criticism of its strike on a Gaza hospital.
European Union foreign affairs chief Kaja Kallas announced a new aid package for the Palestinians on Monday.
It comes ahead of an anticipated meeting beteen EU foreign ministers and senior Palestinian officials in Luxembourg on Monday.
Meanwhile, six people were reportedly killed in suspectred US strikes on Yemen.
The Houthi-run Health Ministry says that the building targeted was a ceramics factory and that 30 more people were injured. The ministry says that 123 people, mostly civilians, have been killed in US strikes since mid-March.
The European Union has announced a three-year financial support package for the Palestinians worth up to €1.6 billion ($1.8 billion).
“We are stepping up our support to the Palestinian people. €1.6 billion until 2027 will help stabilize the West Bank and Gaza.
Ahead of the official announcement, Dubravka Suica, the European Commissioner for the Mediterranean, said the support would go hand in hand with reforms of the Palestinian Authority, accused in the past of corruption and bad governance.
“We want them to reform themselves because without reforming, they won’t be strong enough and credible in order to be an interlocutor, not for only for us, but an interlocutor also for Israel,” Suica told Reuters.
The commissioner’s remarks came ahead of the first “high-level political dialogue” between EU foreign ministers and senior Palestinian officials in Luxembourg on Monday.
The EU is the biggest donor to the Palestinians.
EU officials have expressed hope that the Palestinian Authority, which governs in the Israeli-occupied West Bank, may also one day take responsibility for Gaza after the war between Israel and Hamas militants.
