Middle East Monitor / July 15, 2020
The EU will begin a €5.8 million ($6.63 million) construction agreement with the Palestinian Authority in ‘Area C’ of the occupied West Bank, according to a statement from the Office of the EU Representative in the West Bank and Gaza.
This package is the fifth of its kind and will fund 16 social and public infrastructure projects, which will benefit over 24,000 Palestinian living in Area C.
These projects include schools, multipurpose buildings, water distribution networks, water reservoirs and rehabilitation of electricity networks.
Area C, which makes up 76 per cent of the occupied West Bank, is Palestinians land which – as a result of the Oslo Accords – falls under Israel’s security and administrative control.
A restrictive planning regime applied by occupation authorities makes it almost impossible for Palestinians to obtain building permits in Area C, impeding the development of adequate housing, infrastructure and livelihoods, forcing Palestinians to build homes and other essential infrastructure without permission and live under constant threat of demolition.
According to B’Tselem, Israel demolished at least 1,342 Palestinian residential units in the West Bank between 2006 and 30 June 2018, displacing 6,024 people including at least 3,040 children.
“The EU considers Area C an integral part of the occupied Palestinian territories. This position has been voiced for so many years and is translated in projects like the one we are launching today. It is the basic right of every Palestinian in the occupied Palestinian territories to have access to social services and economic infrastructure like water, electricity, roads, schools, and clinics,” said Sven Kuhn von Burgsdorff at a ceremony held to sign the agreement in Ramallah.
In addition, the Representative of Denmark, Nathalia Feinberg, said, “The support from the Danish government is channelled through the European Union Area C Development Programme in the West Bank. The EU and EU Member States support to developmental interventions in Area C initiated and promoted by the Palestinian Ministry of Local Government in line with the EU commitment towards achieving the two-state solution.”
