The European Union has halted development aid payments to the Palestinians and is placing 691 million euros ($728 million) of support “under review” after the Hamas assault on Israel, an EU commissioner said Monday.
“All payments immediately suspended. All projects put under review. All new budget proposals, including for 2023 postponed until further notice. Comprehensive assessment of the whole portfolio,” European Union Commissioner for Neighbourhood and Enlargement Oliver Varhelyi posted on social media.
Germany also said Monday it was temporarily halting development aid to the Palestinians as it carries out a thorough review of the financial help after the Hamas terror group’s surprise attack on Israel.
“It is being examined, that is, temporarily suspended,” said a spokeswoman from the Economic Cooperation and Development Ministry.
The aid included help for desalination projects, food security, and job creation, and amounted to 125 million euros ($131 million).
The Austrian government likewise announced that it was suspending development aid to Palestinian-controlled areas, in reaction to the attack.
The aftermath of a rocket strike from rhe Gaza Strip that hit a building and cars in the southern city of Ashkelon. October 9, 2023. (Chaim Goldberg/Flash90)
Stunned by the unprecedented assault on its territory, a shocked Israel has counted over 800 dead and over 2,000 injured as hundreds of Palestinian gunmen breached the border into the country on Saturday, then roamed southern areas for hours, killing those they found. Over 100 men, women and children were kidnapped and dragged back to Gaza as hostages.
Alongside the attack Hamas also launched over 5,000 rockets all over Israel. Rocket attacks on the south have continued with Tel Aviv and Jerusalem also targeted. Israel responded with a barrage of strikes on terrorist infrastructure in Gaza that local health authorities say have killed 430.
“We will put all development aid payments on ice for the time being,” Austrian Foreign Minister Alexander Schallenberg told public radio Oe1.
He said the decision would affect 19 million euros ($20 million) of aid money.
Schallenberg also said Austria would review all projects with the West Bank and Gaza and consult with the European Union and its international partners.
“The scale of the terror is so horrendous. It’s such a fracture that one cannot go back to business as usual,” he added.
He also announced that he would summon the Iranian ambassador to the ministry to address the country’s “abhorrent reactions” to the Hamas attacks over the weekend.
Iran’s clerical leadership openly supports the Islamist Hamas terror group, which controls the blockaded and impoverished Gaza Strip, and has hailed the attack on Israel.
About 8,000 Austrians are currently living in Israel.
