Israel Demolished $73M Worth of EU-Funded Projects in Palestine
A new report said Israel has been targeting EU-funded projects in Palestine over the bloc’s decision to label Israeli products made in settlements.
Israel has destroyed US$73 million worth of European Union funded projects in Palestine over 14 years, according to a new report by Euro-Mediterranean Human Rights Monitor, which urged the bloc to take financial action against the Israeli government.
The report, titled “Squandered Aid” and obtained by Al-Jazeera Monday ahead of its release later this week, estimates the total lost EU aid money at US$73 million lost over the period 2001-2015, while at least US$26 million were lost just during the Israeli 50-day attack on Gaza in summer 2014.
The report said data on the destruction and demolitions of EU-funded projects have not been made available by Israel or by the EU, while the figures and estimates in the study were obtained through field work, research and interviews with locals and employees of the facilities.
“It might represent an embarrassment to the EU for not protecting its funded facilities properly,” Cecile Choquet, a researcher at Euro-Med, told Al-Jazeera. “Thus, most relevant data are classified.”
Attacks on internationally-funded projects in Palestine has been at the center of the Israeli occupation policy over the past decade.
During the 2014 attack on Gaza, several U.N.-funded and run schools were targeted and destroyed leading to many deaths among children. More than 500 children were killed by Israeli strikes then.
The report revealed that during the first three months of 2016, Israel demolished 165 projects or buildings funded by private and international organizations. Of those 120 were documented demolitions of EU-financed.
The report also claimed that the surge in demolitions of EU-funded projects and facilities was Israel’s way of getting back at the European bloc over its decision last year to label products made in Israeli settlements in the West Bank.
Concluding the report, Euro-Med urged the EU commission to significantly fine the Israeli government when United Nations or European-funded projects are targeted.
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