The European Commission has stated that it has reviewed all development funding to Palestine following Hamas' attack on Israel. According to EurActiv, this involves an immediate halt to all payments and a review of all ongoing projects that involved funding.
"The scale of terror and cruelty against Israel and its people is a turning point. Business as usual cannot continue. As the largest donor to the Palestinians, the European Commission is reviewing its development portfolio with a total value of 691 million euros," said Commissioner for Neighborhood and Enlargement Oliver Varhelyi.
He added, "There will be an immediate halt to all payments, a review of all projects; all new budget proposals, including for 2023, are postponed pending further announcements and a comprehensive assessment."
Following Hamas' attack on Israel, Germany and Austria have already announced that they will suspend any aid to Palestinian territories. Meanwhile, Italy has stated that it will continue providing humanitarian aid to Palestinian territories.
Neither the European Commission nor Germany nor Austria, when announcing the suspension of aid, specified whether it applied to Gaza, the Palestinian enclave controlled by Hamas, or the West Bank of the Jordan River, where the internationally recognized Palestinian Authority led by President Mahmoud Abbas is based, and whose Fatah movement is a rival to Hamas.
Some politicians have opposed the decision to suspend aid, emphasizing that Hamas, not all Palestinians, is responsible for the attack on Israel.
The Times of Israel, citing an unnamed senior European official, reports that the decision announced by European Commissioner Várhelyi will not be implemented due to resistance from member states. The source suggests that the decision will be reversed tomorrow at a meeting involving the EU's High Representative for Foreign Affairs, Josep Borrell.
