Europe to suspend aid to Palestinians after Hamas attack

The European Union appears to have undergone a dramatic shift in its attitude towards Israel and the Palestinians following the large-scale attack by Hamas against Israel on Saturday.

This shift was articulated on X, formerly Twitter, by the EU Commissioner for Neighborhood and Enlargement Olivér Várhelyi on Monday in the form of a suspension of aid to the Palestinians.

“The scale of terror and brutality against Israel and its people is a turning point,” Várhelyi posted on X in a highly unusual statement for a representative of the European Commission.

“There can be no business as usual. As the biggest donor of the Palestinians, the European Commission is putting its full development portfolio under review, worth a total of EUR 691m [about 7.29 million].

Várhelyi wrote that all payments to Palestinians had been immediately suspended.

“All payments immediately suspended. All projects put under review. All new budget proposals, incl. for 2023 postponed until further notice. Comprehensive assessment of the whole portfolio,” he added.

Várhelyi wrote that “incitement to terror” had “poisoned” minds.

“The foundations for peace, tolerance and co-existence must now be addressed. Incitement to hatred, violence and glorification of terror have poisoned the minds of too many. We need action and we need it now.”

The EU is currently the largest donor of aid to the Palestinian Authority (PA).

Earlier on Sunday, President of the European Commission Ursula von der Leyen posted her horror of the Hamas attack on her X account.

“The full scale of the brutality of the Hamas terror attack leaves us breathless. Defenseless people, brutally murdered in cold blood on the streets. We stand strong with Israel and its people. Today the EU and Israeli flags fly side by side,” von der Leyen wrote.

She had written that Israel has the right to defend itself in an earlier post.

“Today, Hamas terrorists have struck at the heart of Israel capturing and killing innocent women and children. Israel has the right to defend itself - today and in the days to come. The European Union stands with Israel.”

Earlier on Monday, both Austria and Germany also suspended aid to Palestinians.

Austria announced that it would suspend aid worth EUR 19 million ($20 million). Germany said that it would temporarily suspend bilateral assistance to PA amounting to EUR 125 million ($132 million) until it had completed an examination of how the funds are being used.

In Germany, the Ministry of Defense raised the Israeli flag in solidarity with the Jewish state.

“In view of the brutal attack on innocent civilians in #Israel, the IL flag was raised this morning at the Federal Ministry of Defense as a sign of #solidarity. The violence must end as quickly as possible!” the ministry wrote on X with an image of the German and Israeli flag next to one another.

In Austria, the Israeli flag was also raised, with the Foreign Affairs ministry posting: “We stand in solidarity with our Israeli partners. There is no excuse for terror!”

The EU’s foreign ministers will meet for an extraordinary summit on Tuesday to discuss the EU's response to the Hamas attack.