Germany grants 100 million marks to Palestinians

Germany has decided to grant 100-million-marks worth of development aid to the Palestinian self-ruled areas, it was officially announced on Wednesday.

Germany's Ministry of Economic Cooperation and Development said in a statement that the aid was agreed upon with Palestinian officials during talks recently held in the West Bank.

It added that these funds would be allocated to solve the water problems in the self-rule areas, stressing at the same time that permanent peace would not be achieved there without solving the water problem facing the area.

The statement stressed that half of the financial aid would be designated to establish a water purification plant in the city of Gaza, while another amount would go to support water programs in the self-rule areas.