• The programme provides for support to the population of Gaza and the Occupied Territories through the Palestinian National Authority and Unrwa.
• The Commission's plan will now have to pass through the European Parliament for scrutiny.
• The clarification from Brussels: "This does not mean we recognise the State of Palestine".

The European Commission has launched a comprehensive multi-year support programme, worth up to €1.6 billion, which will need to be approved by the European Parliament, to promote "Palestinian recovery and resilience". In an official statement, it reiterates "its unwavering support for the Palestinian people and its commitment to a lasting and sustainable peace based on the two-state solution" — an implicit response to the various criticisms the European Union has in fact received, for example for having applied a double standard compared to, say, the Ukrainian crisis.

European Commission ✓ @EU_Commission

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We reiterate our unwavering support for the Palestinian people.

Today, we announce a Comprehensive Support Programme for Palestinian recovery and resilience worth up to €1.6 billion ↓

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The three pillars of European aid to Palestine

The programme will cover the period from 2025 to 2027 and is structured around three pillars. The first provides for support for services to the Palestinian people: approximately €620 million in grants of direct budget assistance is earmarked for the Palestinian National Authority (PNA), long the only political entity recognised by the European Union as an interlocutor. These funds will help the PNA address the most urgent needs of public administration and continue to provide services to its population. The majority of EU funding will be tied to the Palestinian National Authority's progress on key reforms in the areas of fiscal sustainability, democratisation of institutions, private sector development, and public infrastructure and services, with a view to contributing to the building of a sustainable state in the Palestinian territories.

The second pillar concerns support for the recovery and stabilisation of the West Bank and Gaza. The Commission proposes to allocate approximately €576 million in grants to support concrete on-the-ground projects aimed at promoting economic recovery and resilience in the West Bank, East Jerusalem and Gaza, as soon as conditions allow. The focus will be on several sectors, including water, energy and infrastructure: the idea is to allocate €82 million per year to provide services to Palestinian refugees through Unrwa, the United Nations Relief and Works Agency for Palestine Refugees, which has been placed under enormous strain by the ongoing siege in Gaza and also by the shortage of funds, long frozen by many Western countries, both in the occupied Palestinian territories and beyond: according to the Commission, "this will enable Unrwa to continue to play its crucial role as both a humanitarian and development actor".

Finally, as the third pillar, the Commission will support with loans of up to €400 million from the European Investment Bank (EIB) new financing for the Palestinian private sector, subject to the approval of the EIB's governing bodies.

A dedicated donor platform

In addition, the Commission will launch a dedicated Palestinian donor platform — that is, a forum for countries and private actors intending to contribute to reconstruction — which will offer the Palestinian National Authority a forum in which to present the implementation of its reform programme and will ensure full transparency in the programme's implementation. The platform will also enable discussion of the key elements for future engagement in Gaza and will coordinate international efforts for its recovery and reconstruction, as soon as conditions permit.

European Commission ✓ @EU_Commission

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In addition, we will launch a dedicated Palestine Donor Platform.

It will coordinate international efforts for the recovery and reconstruction of Gaza.

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The European Commission's new proposed allocation forms part of the strategy to address the critical social situation of the Palestinian economy, set out in a letter of intent signed by the EU and the PNA last July, which until now had provided for an initial allocation — already disbursed — of €400 million. The EU underlines that it is the main provider of external assistance to Palestinians, with a bilateral allocation of approximately €1.36 billion for the period 2021–2024, of which more than €1.043 billion has already been committed. It also underlines, however, with a caveat that reads like an excusatio non petita — an unsolicited excuse — that this new tranche of aid "should not be interpreted as recognition of the State of Palestine and does not prejudge the individual positions of member states on this issue".