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EU Pledges $435 Million to Ailing Palestinian Authority — With Conditions for Reform
Palestinian Authority President Mahmoud Abbas attends the World Economic Forum (WEF) in Riyadh, Saudi Arabia, April 28, 2024. Photo: REUTERS/Hamad I Mohammed
The European Commission announced on Friday that it would provide 400 million euros ($435 million) in “short-term emergency financial support” to the ailing Palestinian Authority (PA) on the conditions that it address corruption, reduce unnecessary expenditures, and fix its educational curriculum, which has been widely condemned for promoting antisemitism and hatred of Israel.
The money will be disbursed in the form of grants and loans in three payments between July and September, the commission said in a statement, to address a Palestinian economic crisis which, some European officials fear, could lead to the collapse of the PA.
A “Letter of Intent” between the commission — the primary executive arm of the European Union (EU) — and the PA outlines the specifics of the funding and the agreed upon conditions needed to be met by the latter to secure the cash injection.
The conditions are aimed at “modernizing institutions, strengthening the rule of law, and reforming the social security system,” among other major reforms, according to the document.
The Letter of Intent mentions specific guidelines for the PA to adopt. To fight corruption, the EU is requiring the PA to enforce a mandatory retirement age for civil servants and to reduce government expenditures by 5 percent, among other measures.
It is unclear whether the EU’s demands to reduce government expenditures and reform the social security system will impact the PA’s so-called “pay for slay” program, which makes official payments to Palestinian prisoners held in Israeli jails, the families of “martyrs” killed in attacks on Israelis, and injured Palestinian terrorists. The European Commission makes no mention of the nine-figure Palestinian fund, which critics argue is a financial reward for terrorism and reportedly comprises nearly 10 percent of the PA’s budget.
The emergency funding for the PA is not intended for rebuilding Gaza, according to the commission.
In order to receive the payments, the EU is also requiring the PA to modernize its education curriculum.
For years, studies by both nonprofits and governmental bodies have shown that Palestinian textbooks for schoolchildren promote antisemitic incitement and violence.
Last year, the European Parliament passed a resolution calling on the European Commission to suspend aid to the Palestinian Authority’s educational system until antisemitic and violent themes are removed from textbooks issued to K-12 students.
Although the EU has provided over 1.2 billion euros in external aid to the PA between 2021-2024, the PA faces an impending economic crisis as a result of financial corruption, mismanagement, and an economic shock related to the Israel-Hamas War. According to a recent report from the World Bank, the PA is operating at a $682 million deficit, which is expected to increase to $1.2 billion by the end of 2024.
The EU makes clear in its conditions for the PA that it is unhappy with the current Palestinian government. One of the aid conditions, for instance, requires the activation of a “citizen’s complaint mechanism” and that the PA address complaints at the cabinet level.
The president of the European Commission, Ursula von der Leyen, hailed the cash infusion as an important step toward a two-state solution to resolve the Israeli-Palestinian conflict after the Israel-Hamas War in Gaza concludes.
“Israelis, Palestinians, and the entire region deserve peace, security, and stability … With this joint strategy, we are supporting the Palestinian Authority’s reform efforts,” she said in a statement. “Together, we are laying the groundwork for economic and political stability in the West Bank.”
Mahmoud Abbas, the aging president of the PA, has refused to hold elections since taking power in 2005 and has repeatedly been accused of corruption and embezzlement.
The commission’s announcement came one day after Israeli’s parliament, known as the Knesset, on Thursday easily approved a motion to reject Palestinian statehood west of the Jordan River.
The American Jewish Committee (AJC) applauded the EU’s decision to attach conditions to PA funding.
“We welcome today’s significant announcement by the EU to, for the first time, tie all funding to the Palestinian Authority on its ‘progress towards the agreed-upon reform milestones,’” the group wrote on X/Twitter. “Urgent reforms include stopping salaries to terrorists and ending antisemitic incitement in PA textbooks.”
The post EU Pledges $435 Million to Ailing Palestinian Authority — With Conditions for Reform first appeared on Algemeiner.com.
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Former Columbia University President Appointed as UK Economic Adviser
Columbia University administrators and faculty, led by President Minouche Shafik, testified before the US House Committee on Education and the Workforce on April 17, 2024. Photo: Jack Gruber/Reuters Connect
i24 News – British Prime Minister Keir Starmer has named Minouche Shafik, former president of Columbia University, as his chief economic adviser at Downing Street, a move aimed at stabilizing the country’s fragile economy and averting a potential budget crisis.
Shafik, an economist of Egyptian origin with dual British and American nationality, has held senior roles at the Bank of England, the IMF, and the World Bank.
She later led the London School of Economics and was elevated to the House of Lords in 2020.
Her tenure in the United States was more turbulent. Shafik stepped down as president of Columbia University in 2024 after just a year in office, amid fierce criticism over her handling of pro-Palestinian protests following the Hamas attacks of October 7, 2023, and the subsequent war in Gaza.
US officials accused her of failing to confront antisemitism on campus, while students and faculty condemned her decision to call in police to dismantle protest encampments.
Since returning to Britain, Shafik has played an active role in policy and cultural institutions. She advised Foreign Secretary David Lammy on international aid reform, has chaired the Victoria & Albert Museum since January, and led the “Economy 2030” inquiry for the Resolution Foundation, where she argued for reforms to the UK’s system of wealth taxation.
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Israel Mulls West Bank Annexation in Response to Moves to Recognize Palestine
The Jordan Valley. Photo: Юкатан via Wikimedia Commons.
Israel is considering annexation in the West Bank as a possible response to France and other countries recognizing a Palestinian state, according to three Israeli officials and the idea will be discussed further on Sunday, another official said.
Extension of Israeli sovereignty to the West Bank – de facto annexation of land captured in the 1967 Middle East war – was on the agenda for Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu’s security cabinet meeting late on Sunday that is expected to focus on the Gaza war, a member of the small circle of ministers said.
It is unclear where precisely any such measure would be applied and when, whether only in Israeli settlements or some of them, or in specific areas of the West Bank like the Jordan Valley and whether any concrete steps, which would likely entail a lengthy legislative process, would follow discussions.
Any step toward annexation in the West Bank would likely draw widespread condemnation from the Palestinians, who seek the territory for a future state, as well as Arab and Western countries. It is unclear where US President Donald Trump stands on the matter. The White House and State Department did not immediately respond to a request for comment.
A spokesperson for Israeli Foreign Minister Gideon Saar did not respond to a request for comment on whether Saar had discussed the move with his US counterpart Marco Rubio during his visit to Washington last week.
Netanyahu’s office did not immediately respond to a request for comment on whether the prime minister supports annexation and if so, where.
A past pledge by Netanyahu to annex Jewish settlements and the Jordan Valley was scrapped in 2020 in favor of normalizing ties with the United Arab Emirates and Bahrain in the Abraham Accords brokered by Trump in his first term in office.
The office of Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas did not immediately respond to a request for comment. The United States said on Friday it would not allow Abbas to travel to New York for the United Nations gathering of world leaders, where several US allies are set to recognize Palestine as a state.
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Israel Pounds Gaza City Suburbs, Netanyahu to Convene Security Cabinet
Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu speaks to the press on Capitol Hill, Washington, DC, July 8, 2025. REUTERS/Evelyn Hockstein
Israeli forces pounded the suburbs of Gaza City overnight from the air and ground, destroying homes and driving more families out of the area as Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu’s security cabinet was set on Sunday to discuss a plan to seize the city.
Residents of Sheikh Radwan, one of the largest neighborhoods of Gaza City, said the territory had been under Israeli tank shelling and airstrikes throughout Saturday and on Sunday, forcing families to seek shelter in the western parts of the city.
The Israeli military has gradually escalated its operations around Gaza City over the past three weeks, and on Friday it ended temporary pauses in the area that had allowed for aid deliveries, designating it a “dangerous combat zone.”
“They are crawling into the heart of the city where hundreds of thousands are sheltering, from the east, north, and south, while bombing those areas from the air and ground to scare people to leave,” said Rezik Salah, a father of two, from Sheikh Radwan.
An Israeli official said Netanyahu’s security cabinet will convene on Sunday evening to discuss the next stages of the planned offensive to seize Gaza City, which he has described as Hamas’ last bastion.
A full-scale offensive is not expected to start for weeks. Israel says it wants to evacuate the civilian population before moving more ground forces in.
HAMAS SPOKESPERSON TARGETED
Netanyahu confirmed on Sunday that Israeli forces had targeted Abu Ubaida, the spokesperson of Hamas’ armed wing. Defense Minister Israel Katz said that Abu Ubaida was killed. Two Hamas officials contacted by Reuters did not respond to requests for comment.
Gaza health authorities said 15 people, including five children, were killed in the attack on a residential building in the heart of Gaza City.
Abu Ubaida, also known as Hozayfa Al-Khalout, is a well-known figure to Palestinians and Israelis alike, close to Hamas’ top military leaders and in charge of delivering the group’s messages, often via video, for around two decades, delivering statements while wearing a red keffiyeh that concealed his face.
The US targeted him with sanctions in April 2024, accusing him of leading the “cyber influence department” of al-Qassam Brigades.
In his last statement on Friday, he warned that the planned Israeli offensive on Gaza City would endanger the hostages.
On Saturday, Red Cross head Mirjana Spoljaric said an evacuation from the city would provoke a massive population displacement that no other area in the enclave is equipped to absorb, with shortages of food, shelter and medical supplies.
“People who have relatives in the south left to stay with them. Others, including myself, didn’t find a space as Deir Al-Balah and Mawasi are overcrowded,” said Ghada, a mother of five from the city’s Sabra neighborhood.
Around half of the enclave’s more than 2 million people are presently in Gaza City. Several thousand were estimated to have left the city for central and southern areas of the enclave.
Israel’s military has warned its political leaders that the offensive is endangering hostages still being held by Hamas in Gaza. Protests in Israel calling for an end to the war and the release of the hostages have intensified in the past few weeks.