Vice President Hussein Al Sheikh Discusses Local, Regional and International Developments in a Phone Call with the EU Commissioner for the Mediterranean

Ramallah—September 18, 2026—His Excellency Hussein Al Sheikh, Vice President of the State of Palestine, discussed local, regional, and international developments, as well as ways to enhance cooperation and European support for the Palestinian people, with the European Union Commissioner for the Mediterranean, H.E. Ms. Dubravka Šuica, during a phone call on Friday.

Al Sheikh commended the continued European support for our Palestinian people, and the aid provided by the European Union to the Gaza Strip, while calling for funding to be channeled through UNRWA and Palestinian official institutions.

During the call, Al Sheikh addressed the catastrophic situation in the Gaza Strip, the required efforts to support early recovery, alongside the importance of continuing to support reforms and strengthening the institutions of the Palestinian state.

The two sides also discussed the escalating violence and terrorism by settlers in the West Bank, the continued settlement expansion and land confiscation, and the threat this poses to the security and stability of our people and to the possibility of achieving peace and the two-state solution.

Al Sheikh also addressed the suffocating financial and economic crisis facing the Palestinian National Authority, resulting from the Israeli government's continued withholding of Palestinian clearance revenues, and the direct repercussions this has on the government's ability to meet its obligations and provide basic services to our people.

The two sides also discussed preparations for holding elections, and the importance of providing the necessary conditions for a fair, transparent, and inclusive electoral process, commending the European effort to provide experts, while calling on the European Union to press the Israeli government to facilitate the work of the Central Elections Commission in the Gaza Strip, the West Bank, and East Jerusalem.