More than €3-million of European Union aid for Palestinians was spent on bank charges last year in an effort to bypass the Hamas-run government, Oxfam said recently. The money was spent between August and December under the temporary international mechanism, a system run by the European commission that delivers directly to Palestinians and avoids supporting the Hamas-led Palestinian Authority.
Oxfam described the mechanism as an ‘aid fiasco†and said it should be scrapped. But the European commission said it was the ‘most direct and most efficient†means of delivery.
In those five months, about €110-million was delivered directly into the bank accounts of 140 000 Palestinians. Another €40-million was spent on supplying fuel. The money was intended to tackle a growing economic crisis brought about in large part by the decision of Israel to freeze $60-million of monthly tax revenues it usually passes to the Palestinians.
Oxfam said the money was passed through the HSBC bank every month at a charge of €8 for each transfer.
‘European states are wasting millions of euros of aid to Palestine through this bureaucratic scheme,†said Barbara Stocking, director of Oxfam. ‘Our aid is being delivered through a complex mechanism that is causing irreparable damage to essential services for Palestinian people.†She said direct funding to the Palestinian Authority should be restarted.
According to Oxfam’s calculations, €3,2-million was spent on bank transfer charges. When the scheme was expanded at the end of last year, that cost rose to more than €1-million a month, it said.
The EU stopped giving direct financial support to the Palestinian Authority after Hamas won elections and formed a government last year. Israel, as well as the Quartet of Middle East negotiators — the EU, the United States, the United Nations and Russia — has said Hamas must recognise Israel, halt violence and accept past peace agreements before the boycott is lifted. —