The EU this week provided financial and technical support to develop Palestinian
villages in the West Bank’s Area C that is under Israeli military
control.
Their efforts are coordinated with Israeli steps to provide
master plans and infrastructure for Palestinian villages in that area. In the
past two years Israel has spent millions of shekels on that effort.
All
Israeli settlements are located in Area C. Israeli and Palestinian activists
believe that all development in the area is part of the ongoing battle for final
sovereignty.
However, the Civil Administration of Judea and Samaria says
that it has a responsibility to help Palestinians in Area C develop their
communities.
Earlier this week, the European Union approved an action
plan that sets out its relations for the next five years with the Palestinian
Authority.
Although the text of the plan has yet to be published, the EU
has already reported that part of it focuses on helping Palestinians development
of Area C. To that end, it has this week allocated 7 million euros to the PA,
through a technical agreements signed with Prime Minister Salam
Fayyad.
“This agreement is aimed at supporting the Palestinian presence
and promoting social and economic development in Area C, which we all know is of
crucial importance for the economic viability of Palestine,” EU foreign policy
chief Catherine Ashton said.
According to an EU official, the push to
develop Area C is in line with the May 2012 conclusion of its External Relations
Council, composed of member states’ foreign ministers, which said that
socioeconomic development had to be advanced there to preserve the two-state
solution.
According to the same official, the money will help in the
construction of basic infrastructure for water and sanitation, as well as to
increase agriculture production.
The official said the funds will also
allow the Palestinian communities in Area C to develop master plans to cover
their demographic and socioeconomic needs.