Palestinian PM urges further EU support amid gov't financial crisis

Palestinian Prime Minister Rami Hamdallah on Monday called on the European Union (EU) to increase its support for the Palestinian government in light of its current financial crisis.

Hamdallah made the appeal at a meeting with ambassadors and representatives of EU states and EU Representative in the Palestinian Territories Ralph Tarraf.

The Palestinian premier said he values the EU's continued financial and political support and hoped for more.

The current financial crisis is a result of dwindling foreign aid to the Palestinian government as well as the Israeli control over almost 60 percent of the West Bank, including its natural resources, Hamdallah said.

Budgetary aid to Palestine went down by 70 percent, compared with past years, he said.

Last week, Hamdallah warned that if some of the donors and regional countries do not fulfill their pledges to support the Palestinian government budget, it would face a gap of over 650 million dollars.

In January, the Palestinian government ratified a state budget of 4.25 billion dollars, with a deficit of 386 million dollars.

Hamdallah said that Israel's continued settlement expansion, land confiscation, house demolitions and other "violations against the Palestinian people" undermine the two-state solution and pushes toward an apartheid system.

The Palestinians are seeking "to join all international organizations and treaties," and that they "back all international efforts to revive the peace process to end the conflict and realize the two-state solution," he added.

U.S.-sponsored peace talks between Israel and the Palestinians have been stalled since April 2014 after lasting for nine months, with no tangible results achieved. Endit