BRUSSELS\/BERLIN
\nThe European Union backtracked in disarray on Monday on an announcement that aid to Palestinians had been suspended in response to the attack on Israel by Hamas after EU countries complained the bloc\u2019s executive had overstepped the mark.
\nThe confusion began after Oliver Varhelyi, the top official for relations with the EU\u2019s neighbours, said the European Commission was putting all its development aid for Palestinians, worth 691 million euros ($729 million), under review.
\nIn a post on social media site X, Varhelyi – a Hungarian who is European Commissioner for Neighbourhood and Enlargement – also said all payments were \u201cimmediately suspended\u201d.
\nVarhelyi was nominated for his post by Hungarian Prime Minister Viktor Orban, a staunch ally of Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu.
\nThe announcement prompted consternation among multiple governments, who had warned against cutting off aid to the detriment of Palestinian civilians and questioned whether the Commission had the authority to take such a decision.
\nThe move also came as a surprise as officials had said earlier in the day that aid to Palestinians would be discussed at an emergency meeting of EU foreign ministers on Tuesday.
\nSpain, Portugal, Luxembourg and Ireland publicly voiced alarm while other countries did so behind the scenes, diplomats said.
\n\u201cOur understanding is that there is no legal basis for a unilateral decision of this kind by an individual Commissioner and we do not support a suspension of aid,\u201d a spokesperson for Ireland\u2019s foreign ministry said.
\nMore than five hours after Varhelyi\u2019s social media post, the Commission issued a statement confirming it had started an urgent aid review but also declaring that \u201cas there were no payments foreseen, there will be no suspension of payments\u201d.
\nEU foreign policy chief Josep Borrell then sowed further confusion when he said the EU would not suspend \u201cdue payments\u201d – right after the Commission had said no payments were foreseen.
\nThe Commission declined to explain the discrepancy. But it clarified that humanitarian aid – which is separate to funds for development – would continue.
\nIt said it was carrying out the review to \u201censure that no EU funding indirectly enables any terrorist organization to carry out attacks against Israel\u201d.
\nHamas militants killed some 900 Israelis and abducted dozens in the deadliest such incursion since the Yom Kippur war 50 years ago, prompting Israel to retaliate with its heaviest ever bombardment of Gaza, which has killed more than 680 people.
\nLONGSTANDING DIVISIONS
\nThe EU\u2019s disarray reflected longstanding divisions within the 27-strong bloc over the Israel-Palestinian conflict, even as its members united to condemn Saturday\u2019s attack.
\nGermany and Austria said earlier on Monday they were suspending their development aid to Palestinians, while others such as Italy said suspending their aid was not up for discussion.
\nEurope is one of the main sources of aid to the Israeli-occupied Palestinian territories where the United Nations estimates that around 2.1 million people need humanitarian assistance, among them 1 million children.
\nTotal EU assistance earmarked for the Palestinian people under the 2022 budget allocation was 296 million euros.
\nNeither the EU Commission, Germany or Austria differentiated between Gaza, the Palestinian enclave ruled by Hamas, and the much larger West Bank run by the Western-backed Palestinian Authority led by President Mahmoud Abbas, whose Fatah movement is a rival to Hamas.
\nIn Germany, Development Minister Svenja Schulze of the Social Democrats said no payments were currently being made for bilateral aid projects as Berlin re-examined its engagement with the Palestinian territories.
\n\u201cThis is also an expression of our unbreakable solidarity with Israel,\u201d she told a news conference.
\nGermany\u2019s development ministry has earmarked 250 million euros in development funds for bilateral projects in the Palestinian territories for this and next year. It did not say how much of that it had already disbursed this year.
\nGerman politicians have in recent days emphasised their country\u2019s duty towards Israel and its security given the historic responsibility for the Holocaust. The Israeli flag was projected on Saturday night onto Berlin\u2019s landmark Brandenburg Gate.
\nStill, some politicians have pushed back against the decision to suspend aid, saying Hamas but not all Palestinians were responsible for the attack.
\nMoreover a spokesperson for the Greens-run foreign ministry said it would continue to disburse the 73 million euros it had earmarked for Palestinians – which were separate to the development ministry funds, and most of which had already been spent.
\nAustrian Foreign Minister Alexander Schallenberg said the country was suspending development aid totalling around 19 million euros ($20 million) for a handful of projects.
\nNeutral Austria\u2019s ruling conservatives have adopted one of the most pro-Israel stances in the European Union in recent years. The Israeli flag has been hoisted above the chancellor\u2019s office and the Foreign Ministry after the shock Hamas assault.
\nReporting by Andrew Gray in Brussels, Francois Murphy in Vienna, Sarah Marsh and Markus Wacket in Berlin; Additional Reporting by Angela Amante in Rome and Kate Holton in London; Editing by Alison Williams, Nick Macfie and Grant McCool<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"
BRUSSELS\/BERLIN The European Union backtracked in disarray on Monday on an announcement that aid to Palestinians had been suspended in response to the attack on Israel by Hamas after EU countries complained the bloc\u2019s executive had overstepped the mark. The confusion began after Oliver Varhelyi, the top official for relations with the EU\u2019s neighbours, said […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":360893,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[6],"tags":[],"class_list":{"0":"post-360867","1":"post","2":"type-post","3":"status-publish","4":"format-standard","5":"has-post-thumbnail","7":"category-world"},"yoast_head":"\n