Italy pledges millions to support Palestinians at Rome meeting

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Italy has pledged millions of euros to support Palestine, during a meeting of Italy’s prime minister Giorgia Meloni and Palestinian prime minister Mohammad Mustafa on Saturday in Rome. 

Mustafa is the leader of the Palestinian Authority in the occupied West Bank. 

Italian foreign minister Antonio Tajani said Rome would provide new funding of around €35 million for the Palestinian population.

Five million euros will go to the United Nations Relief and Works Agency (UNRWA) and the other 30 million will be allocated to the ‘Food for Gaza’ initiative.

Israel previously accused UNRWA of collaborating with Hamas during the October 7 attack. 

However, no evidence to support this claim has been provided, according to aUN report.

At the meeting, Tajani said Italy believes in a two-state solution within the framework of a wider political process leading to peace.

“Unilateral initiatives are not helpful to the solution of the conflict because the main goal is a peace that leads to the creation of a Palestinian State, that recognises Israel and that is recognised,” said Tajani.

First proposed by the UN in 1947, the two-state solution involves creating two separate nations: one for the Jewish people (Israel), and one for Palestinians (Palestine). This would involve dividing the land, with each state having its own government and sovereignty. The goal is to allow both groups to live side by side peacefully and independently.

Italy has already provided two separate aid packages of €20 million to Palestine. 

Palestine Authority PM Mustafa will visit Brussels on Sunday to meet European leaders.

Most Palestinians are critical of the Palestinian Authority, viewing it as a quisling government that has failed to address even the basic needs of its population. 

A recent study from the Palestinian Center for Policy and Survey Research found that nearly 60% of Palestinians want the Palestinian Authority dissolved.