S&D members welcome the new assistance package of 42,5 million euros for Palestine, announced by the European Commission.

S&D Group vice-president Elena Valenciano MEP said:

“While the Trump administration is playing with fire in the Middle East without offering any new hope for peace, Palestinians need our solidarity and support more than ever. This is true in East Jerusalem in particular, where local Palestinians are facing rapidly deteriorating conditions and isolation.

“Our position continues to be crystal clear: we want to see a Palestinian state living side-by-side in peace and security with the state of Israel along the 1967 borders with Jerusalem as capital of both states. The new assistance package as announced yesterday supports exactly these goals: Palestinian state-building and the preservation of the Palestinian character of East Jerusalem.

“We continue to call for international solidarity also with UNRWA. It is in this spirit that the S&D Group made a request for a debate on the situation of the Agency in next week's plenary session in Strasbourg. We have to say it loud and clear again and again: the vital services provided by the Agency to hundreds of thousands of vulnerable Palestinian refugee families cannot fall victim of political gambling. UNRWA deserves our full and strong support.”