European Commission's Humanitarian Aid Department (ECHO) said it will allocate at least €34 million for humanitarian aid to the Palestinian people in 2005. In a press release, ECHO revealed that almost €30 million will be given in the first half of the year, adding that almost one third of this assistance will be delivered in the Gaza Strip.
The European Commission is one of the largest donors of humanitarian aid to the Palestinian population. Since the start of the Intifada in the Occupied Palestinian Territories in 2000, the EC's humanitarian aid department (ECHO) has provided €155 million in assistance to Palestinian people throughout the region.
"The assistance to the Palestinians currently represents ECHO's fourth biggest operation in the world after tsunamis-hit South-Asia, Darfur, and the Democratic Republic of Congo. It accounted for about 8.5 per cent of the ECHO-funded aid worldwide in 2004", the press release said.
According to the press release, in 2004 alone, ECHO's aid to Palestinians amounted to €37.35 million benefiting almost a million needy people. ECHO-funded projects were implemented by more than 30 relief organizations - NGOs, United Nations specialized agencies and the international Red Cross.
