BRUSSELS >> European Union auditors are recommending that the EU stop paying the salaries of Palestinian civil servants in Gaza who don’t work.

The findings were made public Wednesday by the European Court of Auditors, which scrutinized how 1 billion euros ($1.3 billion) in EU financial support to the Palestinian Authority has been used.

The EU pays about a fifth of the salaries of the 170,000 civil servants employed by the Palestinian Authority. But European auditor Hans Gustaf Wessberg says spot checks of 10 civil servants in Gaza found four weren’t working. At one place, Wessberg said, out of 125 employees, 90 weren’t working.

Wessberg said the auditors recommend halting EU payments to Palestinian civil servants in Gaza and using the aid funds instead on the West Bank.