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.
My statement today following the signing of a €5.8 million agreement between Palestine, the #EU, and #Denmark to build 16 social and public infrastructure projects in "Area C" of occupied #Palestine benefiting more than 24,000 Palestinian citizens. pic.twitter.com/JbHfA5VEFi
— Dr. Mohammad Shtayyeh د. محمد اشتية (@DrShtayyeh) July 14, 2020
“The support from the Danish government is channeled 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,” said the Representative of Denmark, Nathalia Feinberg.
Area C, which makes up 76 percent of the occupied West Bank, is Palestinians land which – as a result of the Oslo Accords – falls under Israel’s security and administrative control.
Sealed Off and Forgotten: What You Should Know about Israel’s ‘Firing Zones’ in the West Bank https://t.co/N9ZLBDbST7 via @MiddleEastMnt #Palestine #IsraeliCrimes pic.twitter.com/Ay2bxVqF7V
— Ramzy Baroud (@RamzyBaroud) March 21, 2020
“In ‘Area C’, the degree of control is so suffocating that every aspect of Palestinian life – freedom of movement, education, access to clean water, and so on – is controlled by a complex system of Israeli military ordinances that have no regard whatsoever for the well-being of the beleaguered communities,” Palestinian journalist and editor of The Palestine Chronicle Ramzy Baroud wrote in a recent article.
“The 1967 occupation led to a massive wave of ethnic cleansing that saw the forced removal of approximately 300,000 Palestinians from the newly-conquered territory,” Baroud added.
“Many of the vulnerable communities that were ethnically cleansed included Palestinian Bedouins, who continue to pay the price for Israel’s colonial designs in the Jordan Valley, the South Hebron Hills, and other parts of occupied Palestine.
(Palestine Chronicle, MEMO, Social Media)
