Paris Grants Palestinians $13mn, Urges More Aid from U.S., GCC

France on Tuesday said it had transferred 10 million euros ($13 million) in budget assistance to the Palestinian Authority and urged the United States and Gulf countries to also send more aid.

The assistance is aimed at helping the Palestinian Authority in its "delicate financial situation", French foreign ministry spokesman Bernard Valero said in a statement.

The aid "is a sign of the confidence we have in the Palestinian Authority's remarkable work on reforms and transparency," he added.

The new French assistance was in addition to nine million euros in budgetary help to the PA provided previously this year by France via the World Bank.

France, which has provided 105 million euros in budgetary aid to the PA since a 2007 donors conference, urged other nations "particularly the United States and Gulf countries, to remobilise and give more support to the Palestinian Authority."

"Israel must also allow the Palestinian Authority to increase its own revenues and reduce its dependence on outside aid," the statement added.