EU releases 300 million euros in aid for Palestinians
Tue Mar 25, 8:57 AM ET
The European Commission released 300 million euros (467 million dollars) in aid for the Palestinian Territories Tuesday, from the 440 million euros the EU executive has pledged for this year.
Of the total, 71 million euros is earmarked to go to the United Nations Relief and Works Agency for Palestine Refugees (UNRWA), a commission spokeswoman said.
The rest is to go to a new EU mechanism -- dubbed PEGASE -- intended to channel aid to help build a Palestinian state, with 176 million euros destined for supporting public services.
At the Paris donors' conference last December, Europe pledged more than half of the total 7.481 billion dollars (4.8 billion euros) in aid commitments to support the Palestinian Authority and recently revived peace talks.
At the time, the commission pledged 440 million euros in aid for the Palestinians this year.
Last Wednesday, the United States granted 150 million dollars to Palestinian president Mahmud Abbas's West Bank government in a first installment of the 555 million dollars Washington pledged at the donors' conference.
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