Chair’s Summary – Meeting of the Ad Hoc Liaison Committee (AHLC)

26 September 2024

Chair: Mr Espen Barth Eide, Minister of Foreign Affairs, Norway

CHAIR’S SUMMARY

The Ad Hoc Liaison Committee (AHLC) met in New York on 26 September 2024. The Chair commends the Palestinian delegation for their participation. The Chair also thanks the AHLC members, including the United Nations, the International Monetary Fund, the Office of the Quartet, and the World Bank for their valuable contributions to the meeting. The Chair notes that Israel did not participate.

The meeting took place during a difficult time in the region, with unspeakable horrors, tremendous human loss and suffering among civilians.

At the meeting, the Palestinian Prime Minister Dr. Mohammad Mustafa presented his government’s strategic framework “Build Palestine” which draws up the following fundamental pillars for consolidating an independent Palestinian state: 1) Reunification of the West Bank and Gaza 2) Institutional Transformation and Reform, 3) Gaza Recovery and Reconstruction, and 4) Palestine Comprehensive Economic Development Program, with a pivotal role for the private sector.

The AHLC members welcomed the Palestinian Government’s progress on reform since the International Partners Meeting on Palestine in Brussels on 26 May 2024. Joint and swift actions by all parties remain crucial for their success. The Palestinian economy is likely experiencing the largest shock it has ever recorded in recent history. The war has brought Gaza’s economy close to collapse and the West Bank is experiencing a deep recession. The Palestinian Government’s fiscal challenges are compounded by Israel’s withholding of clearance revenues and the heavy restrictions on access and movement inside and out of the West Bank.

The AHLC participants called for an end to all illegal and harmful policies, that undermine the Palestinian Government and the Palestinian economy, for full transfer of the clearance revenues, and the continuation of corresponding banking relations.

The AHLC participants highlighted the importance of actions not only addressing the current humanitarian needs in the Gaza Strip and the West Bank, including East Jerusalem, but also shaping a political reality.

The AHLC underlined that the Gaza Strip must remain an integral part of the Palestinian state without any reductions of territory or demography. The Gaza Strip and the West Bank must be united politically, economically and administratively. Participants noted the need for a single, coordinated effort for reconstruction and recovery, rather than disparate workstreams.

* * *

A thematic session was held in preparation for the Ministerial Meeting, with interventions from the United Nations, the International Monetary Fund, the World Bank, the Office of the Quartet and the European Union. Participants discussed how the AHLC members can assist the Palestinian Government and their reform programme financially, including through existing multi donor trust funds and new multi-year initiatives; contribute to the unification of the Palestinian governmental institutions in the West Bank and the Gaza Strip, and principles and actions for early recovery and reconstruction. Participants underlined that all efforts must be Palestinian-owned and led. Budget support and other direct assistance to the Palestinian Government play an important role in improving its finances in the short term but addressing structural challenges and a political solution are required for, inter alia, a sustainable Palestinian economy.

* * *

The AHLC called on:

• The Palestinian Government to continue, with the support of the donors, reform efforts according to the four priority pillars identified by the Palestinian Government: fiscal and public finance policy; governance and rule of law; investment and business climate, and basic service provision.
• Israel to lift restrictions on access and movement, both within West Bank governorates, including East Jerusalem, and across border for Palestinian workers in Israel; to stop measures that weaken the Palestinian Government , including to ensure continued uninterrupted flow of clearance revenues to the Palestinian Government in full and uphold corresponding banking relations; immediately halt settlement building and prevent settler violence and hold perpetrators accountable; as well as to support the resumption of basic services in Gaza through restoring electricity and water supplies to pre-war levels, facilitating deconfliction, and entry of fuel, materials and other commodities.
• The international community to increase financial and other kinds of assistance to the Palestinian people, including budget support and direct support to strengthen the Palestinian Government and its reform efforts, as well as to UNRWA and short-term investments to cover urgent needs on the ground; to support the preparation for recovery and reconstruction in Gaza, being led by the Palestinian Government, with the support of the World Bank, the European Union, and the United Nations; to ensure that any early recovery for the Gaza Strip are guided by a set of common Palestinian-owned political principles, ensuring that the Gaza Strip and the West Bank, including East Jerusalem, are unified; and for the International Monetary Fund, the Office of the Quartet, the United Nations and the World Bank to continue to provide factual and relevant analyses and recommendations in their respective reports to the AHLC.
• All actors to renew their efforts for Palestinian statehood and for charting a path toward an end to the conflict in accordance with international law.