Senior European Official to "SadaNews": We Strongly Support the Palestinian Reform Plan and Will Participate in the Reconstruction of Gaza

Exclusive to SadaNews - A senior European official stated that the European Union agrees with the reform approach being adopted by the Palestinian Prime Minister Dr. Mohammad Mustafa's government, and is working to support it in every possible way, after the EU had expressed grave concern alongside some Arab countries, particularly Saudi Arabia, regarding the lack of transparency concerning the spending of funds.

The official's remarks came in response to a question posed by the editor-in-chief of "SadaNews" regarding the external support for the Palestinian Authority, a significant portion of which has been provided by the European Union, totaling around 22 billion dollars over more than 30 years, and about the satisfaction of European countries with the spending processes followed by the Authority throughout these decades.

The official, speaking from the Belgian capital Brussels, noted that he met with the Palestinian Minister of Finance Ishaq Salama on the sidelines of the donors' conference, where they discussed the reforms being implemented in partnership with the European Union, as well as the plan laid out by the government for this purpose.

The official stated: These discussions were not aimed at imposing any dictates; rather, their objective was to improve and reform the Palestinian government and its reform approach.

He added: Some of the reforms being undertaken by the government have already been implemented, while work continues to apply additional ones, and we are committed to supporting these reforms, especially from a financial perspective, and we have a mechanism in place to monitor the government reform process in partnership with the Palestinian government.

Regarding the European Union's participation in the reconstruction of the sector, the European official stated that this issue was discussed during the donors' meeting and what principles should govern the reconstruction, emphasizing that there is a consensus on the necessity for it to be managed by the Palestinians and to respect the wishes of the Palestinian people in this regard.

He added in his remarks to "SadaNews": This topic will be discussed in depth regarding how the EU will participate in the upcoming reconstruction conference to be held in Cairo soon, noting that the date has not yet been set and everyone is waiting for it to determine the criteria for reconstruction.

The official estimated that the cost of reconstructing the sector may range from 60 to 70 billion dollars.