GAZA CITY, Gaza Strip — The Palestinian government and the French Development Agency (AFD), a representative of the French government, signed two agreements worth 20 million euros (about $22 million) to support agricultural development and the water sector in Palestinian communities in the portion of the West Bank under Israeli civil and security control, known as Area C.

After the agreements were signed Dec. 5 in Prime Minister Mohammed Shtayyeh’s office in Ramallah, he said, “France's support for a number of communities and villages in Area C is at the heart of the government's work strategy aimed at stabilizing these areas as an integral part of the Palestinian territories,” the Palestinian official news agency Wafa reported. 

The first agreement provides 10 million euros to support infrastructure and road construction in 19 Palestinian communities in Area C of Salfit in the central West Bank, and Tubas and al-Jiftlik in the northern West Bank. The other agreement aims to develop water networks in the Aboud area and the villages in western Ramallah governorate, with a value of 10 million euros, to be followed by an additional 12 million euros from the EU, which is separate from the two agreements with France, Shtayyeh explained. 

The two agreements were signed by Palestinian Finance Minister Shukri Bishara, Palestinian Minister of Local Government Majdi al-Saleh, head of the Palestinian Water Authority Mazen Ghoneim, French Consul General Rene Troccaz and the director of AFD in Palestine, Catherine Bonnaud.