Does your money reward terror?
The EU has committed up to 1.6 billion euros to the Palestinian Authority (PA) over the next few years. About 620 million of that goes directly to the PA. It is money from European taxpayers.
The PA has been accused of corruption for decades. In 2013 the EU's own auditors found that EU funds were paying civil servants in Gaza who did not show up for work. They found that the money came with no conditions and that the risk of corruption was poorly managed. They also warned that the aid frees up the PA's own budget for other things.
One of those things is salaries to prisoners convicted of terrorism and to the families of attackers. Estimates put it at around 7 percent of the PA's budget.
The EU says its payments now depend on reforms. The PA announced an end to the prisoner payments in February 2025, but critics say they were renamed and moved. Members of the European Parliament have asked the Commission to show which reform benchmarks were met before it paid out 202 million euros in June 2025.
Other countries have drawn a line. The United States cut direct aid in 2018 through the Taylor Force Act. Australia suspended direct aid the same year. The Netherlands ended its salary support to the PA's justice ministry in 2019. Saudi Arabia ended its budget support around 2020, reportedly citing corruption.
Citizens are asked to pay. Until the EU can prove the money does not reward terror, no more should be sent.