A spokesperson for the European Commission confirmed to JNS on Tuesday that Brussels was in the process of preparing a “multi-year financial support package” for the Palestinian Authority.
“The European Union is committed to continue providing financial support to the Palestinian Authority,” the spokesperson wrote in a statement to JNS, noting that Brussels provided almost €400 ($437 million) in “short-term emergency financial support” in 2024.
“As a second step, we are now in the process of preparing a multi-year financial support package for the Palestinian Authority linked to an ambitious reform programme to be anchored in the P.A.’s own strategy for reforms,” the E.U. spokesperson stated, adding that “any further development in this sense” would be communicated “in due time.”
On Monday, Sky News Arabia cited an anonymous “credible Palestinian source” as saying that Brussels approved a financial aid program for the Palestinian Authority exceeding €1 billion ($1,092 billion) for two years.
The Hamas-affiliated Quds News Network cited “informed sources” as claiming that the E.U. funding would be announced later this month.
Brussels wants the Palestinian Authority to assume control of Gaza after the completion of Israel’s military operation against Hamas; Jerusalem vehemently rejects this due to Ramallah’s overt support for terrorism.
P.A. Prime Minister Mohammad Mustafa, whom Palestinian Authority chief Mahmoud Abbas appointed in March 2024, has claimed Ramallah aims to enact wide-ranging reforms and hold its first vote since 2006.
However, he has yet to provide a timetable, saying the vote depends on “realities on the ground” in Gaza, Judea, Samaria and eastern Jerusalem.
The Palestinian leader’s political program also makes no mention of Hamas, which has the support of the majority of the Palestinians but is blacklisted as a terror group by most Western countries and the E.U.
During a meeting of Arab nations in April 2024, Emirati foreign minister Sheikh Abdullah bin Zayed Al Nahyan called the P.A. leadership “Ali Baba and the 40 thieves,” according to sources cited by Axios last year.
Axios reported that the shouting match erupted during the meeting in Riyadh that also included diplomats from the U.S., Saudi Arabia, Egypt, Jordan, Qatar and Kuwait, as well as top P.A. official Hussein al-Sheikh.
Al-Sheikh was said to have complained that while Ramallah has created a new government as Washington and Arab countries requested, it still isn’t getting adequate political and financial support.
Towards the end of the meeting, the Emirati diplomat pushed back and told al-Sheikh he had yet to see any significant reform inside the P.A.
In February, Abbas said Ramallah would not deduct a single penny from its “pay-for-slay” fund that rewards terrorists and their families for their attacks, defying demands made by the U.S. and some E.U. countries.
“We again emphasize that we are proud of the sacrifices made by the martyrs, prisoners and wounded [terrorists],” the P.A. leader said at the Feb. 21 gathering of the Revolutionary Council—Fatah’s second-highest body, which is chaired by Abbas—in the city of Ramallah, Samaria.
“I told you once and I stand by my word: Even if we have [only] one penny left, it is for the prisoners and the martyrs,” he said, echoing remarks made during a July 2018 address in the Palestinian city.