Von der Leyen confirms the "rapid" disbursement of humanitarian funds for the Palestinian Authority

BRUSSELS, June 14 (EUROPA PRESS) -

The President of the European Commission, Ursula von der Leyen, confirmed on Tuesday the "rapid" disbursement of humanitarian funds for the Palestinian Authority corresponding to 2021, after backing down on her proposal to condition aid on educational reform.

"I can announce that the funds for the year 2021 can be disbursed quickly. The difficulties have been left behind and we have made it clear that the disbursement will take place," Von der Leyen assured after meeting in Ramallah, West Bank, with the Palestinian Prime Minister, Mohamed Shtayé , as part of his Middle East tour that takes him to Israel, Egypt and Jordan.

Community sources confirm to Europa Press that the aid amounts to 224.8 million euros of funds from the humanitarian budget, which adds to an aid of 25 million announced in May and 92 million released at the end of 2021 for the United Nations Agency for Palestine Refugees in the Middle East. The first payments are expected for the month of July and the priority is to address the situation of the most vulnerable groups and help hospitals in East Jerusalem, added the sources consulted.

According to the head of the Community Executive, it is "important" that these funds are put into operation to help the most vulnerable population and generate opportunities in a territory punished by the consequences of the pandemic and affected by the economic impact of the war in Ukraine.

This Monday the Twenty-seven gave the go-ahead at the expert level to withdraw the conditionality to humanitarian aid for which Brussels kept the money blocked and that a majority of Member States wanted to reverse. In this way, they reversed the initiative of the Neighborhood Commissioner, Oliver Varhelyi, who made the funds subject to an educational reform in Palestine, after the controversy over whether textbooks in schools promote hatred and violence towards Israel.

This conditionality opened a front between the European Commission and the EU Member States, opposed to imposing this requirement. After months of pressure, the European Executive presented a new proposal that withdraws the requirements for humanitarian items and that it needed a qualified majority to move forward, a bar that has been exceeded since more than 15 Member States had already expressed themselves in favor of unlocking the games.

Already in April, this group of European countries demanded in a letter an "exit" to the blockade and return to the initial proposal to urgently send aid to the Palestinian Authority. The letter, highly critical of Varhelyi's attitude, recalled that the Palestinian Authority is embarking on an "ambitious" educational reform and called for "empowering moderate voices against more radical actors."