Germany and the Palestinian Authority have signed a €100 million ($117 million) cooperation agreement that will see German investment in areas under PA control. The deal was signed on Friday, in Ramallah, the seat of the PA government.
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The German donation aims to finance "vital projects" in the West Bank, ruled by Palestinian Authority President Mahmoud Abbas, as well as in the Gaza Strip, controlled by the Hamas terrorist group.
The donation will finance "sustainable economic development in [Palestine] over the next two years," according to PA Prime Minister Mohammed Shtayyeh.
Following the conclusion of the annual Palestinian-German government negotiations, Palestine and Germany signed yesterday a bilateral development cooperation agreement, worth €100 million, to contribute to sustainable economic development in #Palestine over the next two years. pic.twitter.com/BYkTEG0jRi
— PM of Palestine (@PalestinePMO) September 16, 2021
Shtayyeh thanks Berlin and the people of Germany for their "generous and continuous support and commitment" to the Palestinian cause, saying, "We hope our friends in Germany, the European Union and the international community will help put pressure on Israel to allow elections to be held in all the Palestinian territories, including Jerusalem."
Germany's representative to Ramallah Oliver Owcza praised the bilateral relations between his country and the Palestinians, reiterating German support for a negotiated two-state solution to the Israeli-Palestinian conflict.
He also stressed that Germany supports for holding elections in the PA and respecting human rights and public freedoms.
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The 85-year-old Abbas was elected for a four-year term in 2005 but has been skirting around elections, calling them off repeatedly. The PA was slated to hold presidential and parliamentary elections in June, but Abbas again called them off, blaming Israel.
The last Palestinian elections were held in the West Bank and Gaza in 2006, when Hamas, an offshoot of the Muslim Brotherhood, won the parliament. In 2007, the terrorist group usurped control of Gaza via a military coup, forcing Abbas and his Fatah supporters out of the enclave and effectively splitting the Palestinian Authority into two political entities.
Reprinted with permission from JNS.org.
