The Belgian Ministry of Foreign Affairs announced on 7 November that after a meeting with Palestinian foreign minister Riyad al-Maliki it had decided to enhance the status of the Palestinian representation in Brussels, but noted that the decision did not imply a change to Belgium’s position on a Palestinian state. The announcement follows news from September that the Palestine Liberation Organization office in Washington DC was ordered to close (see United States). Earlier in August, Belgium demanded compensation from Israel after Israel demolished school facilities built with help from European Union (EU) funding. Separately, Belgium and 7 other EU countries demanded compensation for EU-funded infrastructure Israel had demolished in the West Bank (see European Union).
Quarterly Updates for (16 Aug 2018 — 31 Dec 2018)