Malta to contribute €330,000 in humanitarian aid for Gaza

Malta’s humanitarian aid contribution for the battered Palestinian territory of Gaza will be €330,000 this year, Deputy Prime Minister Ian Borg told parliament last week.

The money forms part of the Gaza Solidarity Fund set up last year, Borg said in reply to a parliamentary question by Opposition MP Carm Mifsud Bonnici. The amount is the same as last year.

The minister said the fund was intended to address the “most crucial needs” of the Palestinian people in Gaza.

“This year, the ministry will be addressing the needs associated with water, sanitation and hygiene,” Borg said, adding the decision was taken along with experts who have access on the ground in Gaza. “Our aim is to reach the most vulnerable members of the population, particularly women and children.”

Borg said the initiative will seek to rope in Maltese companies.

Last year, Malta committed itself to provide training to Palestinian public officials and those working in the health sector. Borg said discussions with the Public Service Institute and the Health Ministry were ongoing to fulfil this commitment.

The minister said Malta will independently from this fund provide financial assistance to international organisations that are supporting Gaza.

Malta has also provided specialised treatment to 13 Palestinian children from Gaza at Mater Dei Hospital.

In September, on the margins of the UN General Assembly, Malta formally recognised the State of Palestine.

Gaza is still reeling from the battering it received at the hands of Israeli forces after the October 7 attacks in 2023, when Hamas militants crossed into Israel and killed more than 1,200 people and taking 250 others hostage.

For two whole years, Israeli forces destroyed neighbourhoods, blew up public infrastructure, including hospitals, killing more than 70,000 Palestinians, including children. Israel also blockaded the enclave, using hunger as a weapon of war amid reports of starvation. The genocide has left Gaza and its people broken as a fragile peace agreement brokered by US President Donald Trump now enters into its second phase.

Meanwhile, in the West Bank, illegal Israeli settlements continue to expand, pushing Palestinians out of the lands that would form part of a Palestinian state.

Responding to another PQ by Mifsud Bonnici on Malta’s aid contribution to Ukraine, Borg said the contribution for 2026 is still being worked out while consultation is ongoing with international aid organisations.

He said Malta’s contribution in terms of non-lethal supplies to Ukraine totalled almost €1 million last year.