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BRUSSELS: The European Commission launched a review of its development aid to the Palestinians on Monday after the Hamas militant group’s attack on Israel.
But Brussels was forced to scramble to clarify that no support has yet been suspended, despite one of its own commissioners making this claim.
Hungary’s Oliver Varhelyi, the EU commissioner for Neighbourhood and Enlargement, said Hamas’ “terror and brutality” had been “a turning point.”
And, in a social media post, he said, 691 million euros ($728 million) in aid had been suspended pending a review of EU support for Palestinians.
“All payments immediately suspended. All projects put under review. All new budget proposals, including for 2023 postponed,” he said.
A later statement from the European Commission confirmed a review would be carried out.
But, pointedly, it added: “In the meantime, as there were no payments foreseen, there will be no suspension of payments.”
Officials also stressed that the review applies only to development funding, not to the separate EU humanitarian aid budget for Palestinians.
Varhelyi’s announcement, which was initially confirmed by European Commission officials, provoked surprise and anger among EU member states.
All EU capitals have condemned Hamas’ “terrorist” attack, but ministers were expecting to discuss their joint response on Tuesday.
Spain’s foreign ministry said Foreign Minister Jose Manuel Albares had called Varhelyi to protest.
Ireland, meanwhile, questioned whether Varhelyi had the legal authority to make the call.
“Our 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,” the foreign ministry said.
“We are formally requesting the Commission to clarify the legal basis for this announcement.”
European foreign ministers are to hold emergency talks on Tuesday on the sidelines of a meeting in Oman on the situation in Israel and Gaza.
Luxembourg’s acting foreign minister Jean Asselborn insisted that his government did not support the suspension of aid.
“Two million people live in Gaza. They are also hostages of Hamas. With these methods, we push them into the arms of terrorists,” he said.
“We are the largest donor to Gaza. This help is important for young people. This is not money for Hamas. It is for the people of Gaza,” he told AFP.
But the suspension may be supported by other EU states, including the richest, Germany, which announced that it was suspending its own direct aid to the Palestinians.
“It is being examined, that is, temporarily suspended,” said a spokeswoman from the German ministry for economic cooperation and development.
The EU announced in February it was contributing 296 million euros for the 2022 budget to help the Palestinian Authority pay civil servant salaries, pensions, health care and infrastructure projects.
The bloc says it would provide “up to 1.177 billion euros in financial support from 2021 to 2024.”
A European Commission spokeswoman insisted earlier on Monday EU aid “does not fund Hamas or any other terrorist organization activities, either directly or indirectly.”