A loss of several hundred thousand euros. The European Union has suspended all payments of its development aid to the Palestinians and decided to reassess all of its ongoing programmes, which amount to a total of €691 million, EU Commissioner Oliver Varhelyi announced on Monday.
The scale of terror and brutality against #Israel and its people is a turning point.
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
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— Oliver Varhelyi (@OliverVarhelyi) October 9, 2023
"All payments immediately suspended, all projects reviewed, all budgets for projects, including for 2023, postponed until further notice, reassessment of the whole programme," the Hungarian Commissioner for Neighbourhood and Enlargement said on X (ex-Twitter).
The announcement follows the assault by Hamas, the Palestinian Islamist movement, on Israel, launched on Saturday, and reigniting the war between the Jewish state and the Gaza Strip. At this stage, more than 1,200 people have died since the outbreak of hostilities.
"The foundations of peace, tolerance and coexistence must now be tackled. Incitement to hatred, violence and the glorification of terror has poisoned the minds of too many. We need action and we need it now," he added.
Funds suspended in Germany and Austria
Earlier in the day, Germany and Austria had also announced the temporary suspension of aid to the Palestinian territories. "This means that (the aid) is not being paid at the moment, during the audit, but it does not mean that it is stopped" definitively, the spokeswoman for the German Development Ministry said at a government press briefing.
In Germany, the Ministry of Development has committed to the Palestinian territories to the tune of "around 125 million euros, in the name of bilateral development cooperation, for this year and next," the spokeswoman said.
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The projects financed include "the supply and evacuation of water to a desalination plant, vocational training, job creation for young people, food security," she said.
On the other hand, humanitarian aid from the budget of the Ministry of Foreign Affairs is not suspended, as this aid "is used to save lives", stressed the spokesman of this ministry stressed. For this year, this humanitarian aid amounts to €73 million. Austria is contributing €19 million.