The EU announced on Monday it was allocating 25 million euros in humanitarian aid to meet the basic needs of vulnerable Palestinians in the West Bank, East Jerusalem and Gaza.
The EU funding will focus on providing healthcare assistance, including mental care for trauma, to those affected by the continued violence, the ramifications of the blockade on Gaza and the impact of the Covid-19 pandemic, the bloc announced in a statement.
The aid will also focus on improving access to schooling of Palestinian boys and girls to uphold their right to education, it added.
According to the statement, over 2 million Palestinian women, children and men in the Occupied Territories and Gaza Strip are in need of humanitarian assistance.
The fragile economic situation and the unprecedented financial crisis in the West Bank and Gaza, have also resulted in high unemployment rates, limited trade and restricted access to resources.
“The situation is further worsened by the impact of Russia's aggression against Ukraine, resulting in increased food and fuel prices,” the statement said.
Commissioner for Crisis Management, Janez Lenarcic, said the EU continues to stand in solidarity with the Palestinian people and that the newly announced EU humanitarian aid will support Palestinians families' access to basic services and assistance, which is now even more urgent due to the rising food prices and food shortages as a global consequence of the Russian war on Ukraine.
“Furthermore, we insist on the full respect for international humanitarian law and condemn the continued evictions of civilians and demolitions of their homes, schools and basic infrastructure. This needs to stop,” Lenarcic stressed.
According to the bloc, some 1.79 million in Palestine suffer from food insecurity of which 1.1 million people are severely food insecure.
Last week, Palestinian Prime Minister Mohammed Shtayyeh called on the EU to accelerate the provision of financial support to Palestine and exert pressure on Israel to release withheld funds and stop all forms of financial deductions from Palestinian tax revenues.
