EU to Provide $178 mln for Tunisian Security Forces to Curb Migration

Migrants navigate on a metal boat as they are spotted by Tunisian coast guards at sea during their attempt to cross to Italy, off Sfax, Tunisia April 27, 2023. REUTERS/Jihed Abidellaoui
Migrants navigate on a metal boat as they are spotted by Tunisian coast guards at sea during their attempt to cross to Italy, off Sfax, Tunisia April 27, 2023. REUTERS/Jihed Abidellaoui
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EU to Provide $178 mln for Tunisian Security Forces to Curb Migration

Migrants navigate on a metal boat as they are spotted by Tunisian coast guards at sea during their attempt to cross to Italy, off Sfax, Tunisia April 27, 2023. REUTERS/Jihed Abidellaoui
Migrants navigate on a metal boat as they are spotted by Tunisian coast guards at sea during their attempt to cross to Italy, off Sfax, Tunisia April 27, 2023. REUTERS/Jihed Abidellaoui

The European Union plans to provide up to 164.5 million euros ($177.74 million) over three years to Tunisian security forces, the Financial Times reported on Sunday.
Brussels pledged 105 million euros of migration-related funding to Tunisia in a deal signed last year, much of which has not yet been disbursed, the newspaper reported, citing people familiar with the matter.
The EU will overall spend much more on migration under different funding streams over the next three years, with about two-thirds of a projected 278 million euros for security and border management, the FT reported.
EU funded programs involving Tunisian security forces include a training academy for the country's national maritime guard, implemented with German federal police, the report said, adding that EU funds will pay for equipment including radars and boats for the national guard, as well as land border posts.
The EU did not immediately respond to a Reuters request outside regular business hours. Tunisian authorities could not immediately be reached for comment.
Earlier this month, the European Union disbursed 150 million euros to Tunisia as budget support for financial stability and economic reforms.



Israel Police Says Forces Kill Five Palestinian Fighters in West Bank

 Palestinian people inspect the car that was hit by bullets in which Palestinians were reportedly killed by Israeli special forces in the West Bank city of Nablus, Wednesday, Oct. 9, 2024. (AP)
Palestinian people inspect the car that was hit by bullets in which Palestinians were reportedly killed by Israeli special forces in the West Bank city of Nablus, Wednesday, Oct. 9, 2024. (AP)
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Israel Police Says Forces Kill Five Palestinian Fighters in West Bank

 Palestinian people inspect the car that was hit by bullets in which Palestinians were reportedly killed by Israeli special forces in the West Bank city of Nablus, Wednesday, Oct. 9, 2024. (AP)
Palestinian people inspect the car that was hit by bullets in which Palestinians were reportedly killed by Israeli special forces in the West Bank city of Nablus, Wednesday, Oct. 9, 2024. (AP)

Israeli forces killed five armed Palestinian fighters in the occupied West Bank on Wednesday, Israeli police said.

There was no immediate comment from Palestinian officials or armed groups. The Palestinian health ministry confirmed the deaths of only four men.

The Palestinian official news agency WAFA said that Israeli special forces had opened fire on a vehicle that the men were travelling in, in the city of Nablus in the northern West Bank.

Violence has surged across the West Bank since the start of the Hamas-Israel war in Gaza. Hundreds of Palestinians - including armed fighters, stone-throwing youths and civilian bystanders - have been killed in clashes with Israeli security forces.

Dozens of Israelis have been killed in Palestinian street attacks over the past year. At least six people were wounded, two of them seriously, in a stabbing attack in the Israeli city of Hadera on Wednesday, Israeli authorities said.