What about support for Palestine? EU declaration

As the conflicts between Israel and Hamas continue, the European Union (EU) made different statements regarding financial aid to Palestine.

Firstly, Oliver Varhelyi, EU Commission member responsible for neighborhood and enlargement, said development aid projects worth a total of €691 million would be reviewed and all payments would be immediately suspended.

Janez Lenarcic, EU Commission member responsible for humanitarian aid, said humanitarian aid will continue.

EU High Representative for Foreign Affairs and Security Policy Josep Borrell also announced in his first statement that late payments would not be suspended, saying: “Suspending payments in a way that punishes all the people Palestinian will harm EU interests in the region and further encourage terrorists.”

NEW STATEMENT

Clarifying the issue of “EU aid”, which was left unclear due to the different statements made by the EU yesterday, Borrell stated that the ministers made “a clear distinction between Hamas and the Palestinian people and administration.”

Borrell emphasized that the EU Commission wanted an assessment on whether the aid provided to Palestine fell into the hands of Hamas, and that this would be done if necessary, but that this would not interrupt the support provided to the Palestinian people.

“It would be a big mistake to stop supporting the Palestinian administration at this critical moment,” Borrell said, adding:

“The barbaric terrorist attack, which caused numerous civilian casualties, triggered the response of the Israeli army; This will make civilians suffer. We insist that this (Israel’s self-defense) be done in accordance with international humanitarian law. Civilian casualties are also increasing in Gaza. 150 thousand people were displaced. The humanitarian situation is terrible. We need to increase our support. “We need to increase, not decrease.”

Borrell reported that “95 percent” of EU ministers think aid to the Palestinian administration should continue. (AA)