Scandal over the suspension of payments to the Palestinians: the European Union backed down

The EU appears to have backed down on the issue of freezing Palestinian aid payments. Oliver Várhelyi’s earlier statement raised eyebrows among member states including Ireland and Spain.

The EU has been embroiled in a diplomatic row after announcing it would suspend “all payments” to Palestinians as a result of Hamas attacks on Israel, leading to clashes with several member states including Ireland, Spain and the Netherlands.

According to The Guardian, after six hours of searching for an explanation, the European Commission appears to have backed down on a statement made by Neighborhood and Enlargement Commissioner Olivier Várhelyi, saying: “There will be no suspension of payments.” But at the same time, the European Commission only further confused the situation by declaring that “no payments are expected.”

EU chief diplomat Josep Borrell, who is in Oman for a summit with Gulf countries, insisted that humanitarian aid to the Palestinians would not be suspended.

“Withholding payments – punishing the entire Palestinian people – would harm EU interests in the region and would only further embolden terrorists,” he said.

The scandal erupted after European Commissioner Várhelyi announced on Monday afternoon that “all payments are immediately suspended” and “all projects are under review.”

“There can be no reason to conduct business as usual,” the politician said. “As the largest donor to the Palestinians, the European Commission is reviewing its entire portfolio of development projects totaling €691 million.”

The announcement caught many EU member states by surprise, with many questioning how humanitarian aid could be suspended just as Israel cut off Gaza from a “total siege.”

Ireland and Luxembourg questioned the announcement, embarrassing European Commission officials who indicated any funding decisions would be taken at an emergency meeting of EU foreign ministers on Tuesday.

“We have seen the tweet posted this afternoon by Commissioner Várhelyi… We understand there is no legal basis for a unilateral decision of this nature by an individual commissioner and we do not expect assistance to be suspended,” a Foreign Office spokesman in Dublin said.

Madrid and Brussels also expressed reservations, and Belgium announced that humanitarian assistance would continue. “It is important that we do not act hastily,” the Belgians said in a statement.

A source at the Spanish Foreign Ministry said the European Commissioner’s decision “has caused concern in the Spanish government.” The country’s Foreign Minister José Manuel Albarez called Várhelyi “to express his disagreement with this decision” and asked to include it on the agenda of an emergency meeting of foreign ministers in Oman on Tuesday.

Dutch Prime Minister Mark Rutte was asked whether humanitarian aid from the Netherlands would be suspended.

“There is no doubt about it at the moment,” Rutte said, adding that the EU did not finance Hamas in any way. “We really have to make a distinction between Hamas, the terrorist organization, and the innocent Palestinians who are the same victims right now and, again, in the case of Gaza, have been for 16 years.” And they are forced to live under the yoke of a terrible terrorist regime,” he said.

After hours passed without any explanation, another commissioner was forced to reassure critics that civilians in Gaza had not been abandoned to their fate in the face of Israel’s energy and food blockade. “EU humanitarian assistance to Palestinians in need will continue as long as needed,” Crisis Management Commissioner Janez Lenarcic tweeted.

After six hours without any explanation for Varhelyi’s tweet, the EU finally issued a statement confirming it was launching an “urgent review of EU aid to Palestine.” “The purpose of this review is to ensure that no EU funding indirectly enables any terrorist organization to carry out attacks against Israel,” it says.

The EU appeared to back down on Várhelyi’s statement that the funds would be frozen, but also noted that “no payments are forthcoming” at this time, without providing any details about what payments were in question.

Ireland stated that 80% of Palestinians rely on international assistance to survive, with humanitarian aid being provided to Palestinians in the Gaza Strip and West Bank since 2000 through the European Commission’s humanitarian aid department (ECHO) and the UN Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs (OCHA). assistance worth 700 million euros.