Financial news

EU reverses decision to suspend aid funding to Palestine over Hamas attacks – JURIST

The European Commission reversed course late Monday evening as it retracted a decision to immediately suspend funding for Palestine over Hamas’s ongoing attacks on Israel. Janez Lenarčič, the European Commissioner for Humanitarian Aid and Crisis Management posted a retraction of the decision following criticism from some European political figures.Oliver Varhelyi, European Commissioner for Neighborhood and Enlargement, initially announced the suspension  on X (formerly Twitter) earlier on Monday. Varhelyi added that all European Commission development projects for Palestine would be under review.Numerous EU leaders, including Spanish acting Deputy Prime Minister Yolanda Diaz posted to X her disagreement with the suspension, saying that “[t]his decision is outrageous, a true betrayal by Europe of its own founding principles. The European Commission must rectify and Europe lead international action for peace, not punish an entire people.”The Commission is Palestine’s largest donor, with their current portfolio totaling over 691 million Euros.These events follow a statement by the High Representative on behalf of the European Union unilaterally condemning Hamas for its recent deadly terror attacks on Israel. the statement read, “The EU stands in solidarity with Israel which has the right to defend itself in line with international law, in the face of such violent and indiscriminate attacks.”