By bne Gulf bureau The European Bank for Reconstruction and Development (EBRD) announced on September 25 its first equity investment in a venture capital fund in the West Bank, committing $3mn to Ibtikar Fund II, it said in a statement. Palestinian businesses face significant economic challenges and capital shortages as well as continued aggression by Israeli forces in both Gaza and the West Bank following the Hamas incursion into Israel on October 7. Labour conditions in both Gaza and the West Bank since the Hamas incursion in Israel have significantly worsened, according to recent data. Ibti…