Check against delivery! 

Good afternoon to everybody, 

I am pleased to welcome the Prime Minister [of the Palestinian Authority] Mohammad Mustafa for his first visit to Brussels.  

I am also glad to be here with you, my dear friend and Minister of Foreign Affairs of Norway, Espen Barth [Eide].  

Let me thank you, Minister, for your cooperation in organising this extraordinary Ministerial meeting of the key international donors to the Palestinian Authority.  

It is so important that we gather together to try to support the Palestinian Authority because these are extremely difficult times for the Palestinian people. 

The situation in Gaza is beyond words. The occupied West Bank is on a brink, risking to explode [at] any time. And as we speak, Israeli military operations continue in and around Rafah.  

The key border [crossings] remain closed for humanitarian deliveries. Not only the one at the Egyptian border, there are many others in the North of the Gaza [strip]. 

And this happens against the verdict of the highest United Nations court – the International Court of Justice (ICJ) – that ordered Israel to halt the military operation in Rafah and to open the [border] crossing for humanitarian aid. 

This important International Court of Justice verdict, also orders Israel to ensure access to any United Nations mandated [investigative body] investigating the allegations of genocide. I am saying the “allegations”, but they have to be investigated according to the ruling of the ICJ. 

Israel has to submit a report to the Court on all measures taken to give effect to this Order, which is binding and has to be fully and effectively implemented. 

Let me reiterate a very crucial point: among those suffering in Gaza, there are also dozens of Israeli hostages. We do not forget them.  

And in the last few hours, we have seen new barrages of Hamas rockets against Israel. This also has to stop. 

I believe that all of us - the European Union, and the international community that you call here today in Brussels, we must do everything in our powers: to reach an immediate end of the hostilities; to achieve the immediate release of all hostages; [and] to alleviate the humanitarian catastrophe unfolding in Gaza. 

But we should [also] not forget what is happening in the West Bank. 

There, we see an intensified spiral of violence, indiscriminate and [mostly unpunished] attacks by extremist settlers, who are more and more targeting humanitarian aid heading to Gaza.  

They are heavily armed, and the question is: Who is arming them? And who is not preventing these attacks from happening? 

This is coupled with an unprecedent Israeli settlement expansion and land grabbing.  

The Palestinian Authority undertakes remarkable efforts to prevent the situation from exploding, and we know that you are facing immense challenges: a dangerous socio-economic crisis, the impact of the humanitarian tragedy in Gaza, closures imposed on the West Bank, and other punitive actions, such as the announcement of the Israeli occupation authorities to cut all tax revenues that belong to you. 

This is why, today – with international partners and donors – we will focus on how we can best support the Palestinian Authority at this critical juncture.   

We will also hear plans and priorities from you, Prime Minister, in particular for your reform agenda.  

We, the European Union, are the largest international donor of aid to the Palestinian people and a longstanding partner and supporter of the Palestinian state building.  

But we have to do more in order to make the Palestinian people having the stability in this wider region, and this depends on a strong Palestinian Authority, both financially and politically.  

I call on donors to increase the support for your efforts to implement the necessary reforms, including in the macro-fiscal [sphere], democratic renewal, and strengthening the rule of law.  

At the same time, the future of the Palestinian Authority and the Palestinian people depend a lot on Israel’s policies. 

Settlement expansion, which is against international law, has to stop.  

Restrictions of access and movement, as well as limiting the economic activities, must be eased, and unduly withheld revenues have to be released.  

I think that a functional Palestinian Authority is in Israel’s interest too, because in order to make peace, we need a strong Palestinian Authority, not a weaker one. 

We need a collective investment to relaunch a political process. 

The urgency is the humanitarian support and the release of hostages, but we need a relaunch of the political process for the Two-state solution. 

I think that we have to discuss about how we can put this into practice. Maybe, a conference can be a useful step to gather international initiatives and direct our collective efforts towards this end. 

I can assure you, my dear Norwegian Minister, my dear Prime Minister, that we will continue, at the European Union level, to invest all our efforts in support of this objective.  

And I hope that this meeting today will mark another important contribution by the international community to move closer to a solution to the devastating and unsustainable situation in Gaza, in the whole Palestinian territories, and [that this would] also [be] affecting positively Israel and the whole region. 

Thank you. 

Link to the video (starting from 00:50): https://audiovisual.ec.europa.eu/en/video/I-257423