RAMALLAH – The European Union said Friday it would provide an extra 11 million euros ($14.3 million) to the Palestinian Authority (PA) to support 54,900 poor Palestinian families in the West Bank and Gaza. The EU representative office in occupied Jerusalem said in a press statement that the eligible beneficiaries, identified in cooperation with the Palestinian Ministry of Finance, are households living in extreme poverty receiving assistance in the framework of the national Cash Transfer Program (CTP), run by Palestinian Ministry of Social Affairs. The statement added that the eligible beneficiaries in the Gaza Strip will receive their payments through local banks between Dec. 22 and Jan. 10. In the West Bank, the eligible beneficiaries will receive their payments on Dec. 23. John Gatt-Rutter, the EU's representative, said: “Our longstanding contribution to the payment of social allowances underlines the EU's commitment to work closely with the Palestinian Authority to ensure that those Palestinian families who struggle to make ends meet are not forgotten.” “This is complementary to our work with the PA Ministry of Social Affairs to develop a social protection scheme that cares for those facing real economic or social hardship. This is all the more essential in periods of deepening fiscal crisis, as the one Palestine is currently witnessing”, Gatt-Rutter said. The Palestinian Authority (PA) has been unable to pay salaries for its 147,000 civil and military employees because Israel stopped transferring the tax revenues it collects on behalf of the PA on goods imported by Palestinians and destined to the Palestinian territories. Earlier this month, representatives of the Arab League who met in Qatar's capital Doha pledged to transfer a monthly sum of 100 million dollars to “the state of Palestine”. The money is meant to give the PA a “financial safety net.”
