In its attempts to help rebuild Gaza and sustain the Palestinian Authority (PA) to allow the Palestinians to take charge of affairs in Gaza in time, the European Union (EU) is hosting a Palestinian donor conference on Thursday, November 20, with as many as 60 delegations, including some from Arab countries.

Palestinian Authority (PA) Prime Minister Mohammad Mustafa is also expected in Brussels, as donors seek an update on reforms that have been implemented, and those to still be implemented before they pledge further financial resources. 

The EU is already the largest provider of aid to Palestinians and the PA, and says that disbursing a large part of the €1.6 billion ($1.7 billion) in aid announced for 2025 to 2027 will be linked to structural reforms. 

 "In order to receive money," says Guillaume Mercier, an EU Commission spokesperson for international partnerships, the PA needs "to implement reforms," such as in the education sector, and restrict stipends to the families of Palestinians imprisoned by Israel's armed forces. 

Alongside the donor conference, the EU is holding a meeting of its foreign affairs ministers to discuss contributions towards Gaza's future security and stability, as well as towards the International Stabilization Force mentioned in the US-proposed ceasefire plan. 

The EU's plan to train Palestinian police officers for Gaza

Since 2006, the EU has been assisting the PA in developing effective, accountable policing through the EU Mission for the Support of Palestinian Police and Rule of Law program, EUPOL COPPS. 

Now, it is considering expanding the program, and may train up to 3,000 Palestinian police officers who could later be deployed in Gaza. European foreign affairs ministers will consider the proposal on Thursday, along with the contributions each member state is willing to make. France has already said it is willing to train Palestinian police. 

The EU's initiative ties into the US-proposed ceasefire plan , which envisages the International Stabilization Force (ISF) to "train and provide support to vetted Palestinian police forces."

"Possible new contributions are under consideration in close coordination with our partners to complement the effort at the regional level in support of future stabilization of Gaza," Anouar El Anouni, an EU spokesperson for foreign affairs and security policy, told DW during a briefing. 

Tahani Mustafa, a visiting fellow in the Middle East and North Africa program at the European Council on Foreign Relations (ECFR), told DW that the EU had already begun training some Palestinian battalions in the occupied West Bank and in Jordan. 

Donors unlikely to fund reconstruction of Hamas-controlled Gaza territory

But she added that they won't be deployed in a hurry, "not until Gaza is handed over to a different authority,"  such as a "committee of Palestinian technocrats."

The US-proposed ceasefire plan calls for transitional governance by an "apolitical Palestinian committee, responsible for delivering the day-to-day running of public services and municipalities for the people in Gaza," under the oversight of a Trump-led "board of peace."    

That may still take time. Hamas controls 47% of the Gaza Strip, while the Israeli military holds roughly 53% of the territory following the fragile truce brokered in October. This division is marked by the so-called "yellow line," which demarcates Israel-controlled military zones in Gaza.

Gaza's government media office has reported at least 240 Palestinians shot dead since the October peace deal while unwittingly crossing the boundary in an attempt to reach their homes. 

The EU has expressed its willingness to rebuild Gaza. But as long as Hamas controls nearly half of Gaza, donors are unlikely to fund reconstruction.

Mustafa of the ECFR said it was plausible that the EU's funds, once allocated, may first "funnel into areas currently controlled by Israel," even though a "majority of Gazans are outside of those areas."  

Reforms to top the agenda of the donor conference

Earlier this year, France and Saudi Arabia chaired an international conference for the implementation of the two-state solution.

The conference's declaration called on the PA to usher in a slew of reforms, many of which Israel's government has been pushing for, including in the education sector.

There, Israel says Palestinian textbooks incite hatred and violence against Israelis. The PA has repeatedly denied that its curriculum promotes antisemitism or violence, arguing instead that the textbooks reflect Palestinian history and national identity under occupation.

The topic was the subject of a public spat in September between the Israeli and French foreign ministers on X. Israeli Foreign Minister Gideon Saar accused France of disregarding Israeli concerns over "rampant incitement in the Palestinian education system," and failing to object to a PA welfare system granting stipends to families of Palestinians detained by Israel's armed forces.

French Foreign Minister Jean-Noel Barrot, called the accusations "grossly unfair," and said that French President Emmanuel Macron had secured unprecedented commitments from the PA.

Earlier this year,  PA President Mahmoud Abbas announced the repeal of the stipend program, which critics have derided as the "pay for slay" program, adjusting it to needs-based eligibility requirements instead of status qualifications requirements such as the detention of a family member.

"The 'pay for slay' has ended on August 1," Barrot posted on X. "The review of the textbooks to prevent incitement is underway. We will hold the Palestinian Authority accountable." 

Election in Gaza within a year? 

President Abbas has assured the EU that elections will be held within a year of the end of the war in Gaza. However, elections are not a part of the reforms the EU has sought from the PA to procure aid. 

Mustafa of the ECFR said the EU has long had sufficient leverage to compel the PA to hold elections, and could have conditioned funding on electoral and democratic reforms sooner.

But the fear that Hamas may win has led the EU to back the PA and offer "mere lip-service" on democratic reforms, Mustafa said. "The EU is very concerned about the result of the elections. In private, there is real concern it might be the same as in 2006," when Hamas scored a landslide victory, he added. 

Experts told DW the EU is trying to keep the PA afloat since it is seen as the only alternative to Hamas in representing the Palestinian people. Through the PA, the EU is trying to keep the two-state solution alive. But the road ahead is riddled with challenges. 

For now, the EU has deployed a senior diplomatic presence to the Civil-Military Coordination Center (CMCC) in Kiryat Gat, southern Israel, which is set up by the US, to plan the next phase of the peace plan. Representatives from at least ten member states, including Germany, are present on the ground to talk to other countries and agencies about Gaza's future. 

No Palestinian officials or civil society groups are included.

Edited by: Chrispin Mwakideu

Correction, November 20, 2025: An earlier version of this article attributed quotes to Palestinian Authority Prime Minister Mohammad Mustafa and erroneously quoted on ECFR report. All quotes in the article are from Tahani Mustafa of the European Council on Foreign Relations. DW apologizes for the error.