Foreign Aid in the Occupied Palestinian Territories: Network Analysis of Energy-Related Aid Allocation

This research investigates the evolution of aid allocation in the occupied Palestinian territories (OPT) since 1994. The OPT has become an attractive location for donor countries to invest their altruistic aid (humanitarian relief) to achieve their aid responsibilities set by the Sustainable Development Goals. At the same time, the development of energy is considered critical for the establishment of a Palestinian sovereign state since OPT imports (mostly from Israel) cover over 90% of its energy consumption, making it extremely vulnerable to supply disruptions. Thus, the development of secure and clean domestic energy production is needed to decrease poverty and revive the economy in a sustainable manner. This creates a potentially competitive relationship between humanitarian and development foreign aid. Considering the variety of foreign aid recipients in the OPT, the research integrates data from several aid databases (OECD-CRS, AidFlows, and Financial Tracking Service FTS) and applies social network analysis to explore patterns of foreign aid flows. More specifically, a two-mode donor-recipient network is analyzed to (1) identify donor- recipient communities; and (2) explore synergies and trade-offs between energy related and humanitarian aid.