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Dear Prime Minister Mustafa, it is a real pleasure to have this first ever High-Level Political Dialogue and I hope that there are many more such meetings to come. Of course, we all wish that this was taking place under different circumstances. Let me again express our solidarity with the Palestinian people at the appalling loss of life and destruction in Gaza. 

We condemned the total blockade of aid into Gaza and Israel must fully reinstate humanitarian aid. During the first phase of ceasefire, EUBAM Rafah supported over 4000 people from Gaza to Egypt, including many sick and with medical needs. 

You know that you can count on EUBAM Rafah in the future, including potentially facilitating the delivery of goods to Gaza and supporting the Palestinian Authority returning to Gaza.  

In the West Bank, we are very concerned about the worsening situation. This includes the displacement of tens of thousands of people, as well as the restricted access to essential services such as healthcare and education.  

I would also like to add here that the EU is strongly opposed to Israel's settlement policy, including in and around East Jerusalem. We call on Israel to halt its settlement expansion. We have imposed sanctions on extremist settlers, and I will work to seek consensus on further restrictive measures. 

Security cooperation between Israel and the Palestinian security forces has been crucial and should be reinforced. Ultimately, the European Union position is clear on the fact that there is no military way through this war. Resuming negotiations is the only way to put an end to the suffering on both sides. We fundamentally believe in a negotiated Two-State solution.   

[More] importantly our discussions today went beyond the dire immediate needs and formed the basis of long-term cooperation. I commend the Palestinian Authority and its readiness to pursue reforms despite the extremely difficult circumstances. 

It is important that you deliver on them as well and this is also important for your capacity to govern the Gaza Strip. You have our full support.  

Through EUPOL COPPS mission, we could also continue assisting the Palestinian Authority in strengthening institutions, notably ministers dealing with security and justice. We also discussed the needs of Palestinian civilian police, including their needs in policing Gaza in the future. EUPOL COPPS is ready to support here.  

We will also work to deepen our bilateral cooperation, and I know that you wish to participate in Horizon Europe, our research programme, so we will explore this opportunity.  

Dear Mohammed, you know that you can count on our full support to Palestinian Authority and the Palestinian People. That is why today the EU announced a new multiannual support package for Palestine worth of €1.6 billion over the next two years, but Commissioner Šuica will elaborate on that. The European Union will invest in essential infrastructure, deliver humanitarian aid and support refugees. Thank you again their Prime Minister for being here and the floor is yours. 

Link to the video: https://audiovisual.ec.europa.eu/en/video/I-270528  

Q&A 

Q. It's about the political significance of this political dialogue or the first round of this dialogue, while on the ground 80% of Gaza is destroyed. More than that, or more serious than that, that Israel is destroying the Palestinian people in Gaza and the ongoing settlement in the West Bank.  

The importance of today's meeting: as we 27 countries in European Union have agreed to support the Two-State solution. It is also important that the two states would be more equal and that is why we are also having this High-Level Political Dialogue with Palestine, to raise the importance of Palestine. On the other side to have more equal parties to this process. And, I hear you, this situation is very grave and there is frustration that we cannot do enough to stop that. We have called on ceasefire and humanitarian aid to reach Gaza and of course, for the international law to be followed when it comes to the casualties of war as well. But I think that we are still looking ahead for the future and to having the Two-State solution, to have a place where the security of Israel is taken into account while also respecting the rights of Palestinians. I think this is important. 

Q. HRVP you mentioned that you would be working on sanctions on extremist settlers and work on consensus on this. Can you maybe just clarify the political impacts? I mean so far, we have not seen any impact on the settler's violence against Palestinians. So, is there may be no consensus among member states to escalate further? It would be interesting to understand a little bit more the discussions on this.  

So, the discussions we have on the sanctions, they go in line with the countries’ support. You know how the countries are in this regard. To send a very strong signal that we deplore the settler violence, we need to also have tangible steps and therefore we have proposed sanctions. But so far, we do not have 27 Member States on board. Some Member States are saying that: “Yes, but it should be on equal footing to put members of Hamas under sanctions” but to be very clear, we have put many and there are not many left as well. So, it cannot be equal footing anyhow. This is clear that if we deplore in words, then we should also follow in deeds, and it is hard with 27. We have many issues like this, but we are still working on it. 

Link to the video: https://audiovisual.ec.europa.eu/en/video/I-270859