EU ministers meet to resolve divisions over Palestinian aid

European Union foreign ministers met late on Tuesday to try to resolve divisions over whether to continue aid payments to Palestinians a day after the European Commission backtracked on an announcement suspending all such aid. The U-turn came after member states including Spain and France said they opposed the suspension announced by Neighbourhood and Enlargement Commissioner Oliver Varhelyi on Monday following the surprise Hamas attack on Israel. The EU’s disarray reflected longstanding divisions within the 27-nation bloc over the Israeli-Palestinian conflict. Austria and Germany announced on Monday they were suspending their development aid to Palestinians. A Commission spokesperson said on Tuesday Varhelyi had not consulted his fellow commissioners, including Commission President Ursula von der Leyen. The Commission walked back his announcement on Monday evening, saying there would be a review of aid but no suspension of payments. The EU ministers were to hold an emergency meeting in Muscat, Oman, where a scheduled gathering of EU and Gulf Cooperation Council foreign ministers was already taking place, the bloc’s top diplomat Josep Borrell said in a post on social media platform X, formerly known as Twitter. He added on Tuesday that he had invited Israeli Foreign Minister Eli Cohen and his Palestinian counterpart Riyad al-Maliki to join the meeting. Some countries had already set out their positions. Acting Spanish Foreign Minister Jose Manuel Albares said Madrid opposed the proposed suspension, arguing that Palestinian territories are likely to need more aid in the near future after the Hamas assault and Israel’s subsequent bombardment of the Gaza Strip. “This cooperation must continue; we cannot confuse Hamas, which is on the list of EU’s terrorist groups, with the Palestinian population,” Albares told Spanish radio Cadena SER. France said its aid payments to the Palestinian territories were “fully consistent” with its commitments. “We are not in favour of suspending aid which directly benefits the Palestinian population, and made this known to the European Commission yesterday,” its foreign ministry said in a statement. French Prime Minister Elisabeth Borne told parliament that all aid is paid directly to UN agencies on site, meaning that “not one euro of aid goes to a terrorist organisation, whether in Gaza or elsewhere”. Dutch Prime Minister Mark Rutte, speaking in parliament, said aid to Palestinians should continue because they were the victims of Hamas actions. German Chancellor Olaf Scholz said a balance needed to be struck between providing aid and cutting off the financing of terrorists. “On the one hand we have to have humanitarian help so people can be supported to have water and things to eat, and at the same time we need to ensure nothing happens that supports structures linked to terrorism,” Scholz said on Tuesday at a cabinet retreat in Hamburg with French President Emmanuel Macron and his cabinet. Scholz added: “We are sure this is not happening, but it is essential to check every time.” Denmark has suspended development aid, the government said on Tuesday, while Czech Prime Minister Petr Fiala said he backed a suspension. “I am convinced that it would be right now to suspend payments and start a thorough review of the whole system of aid to Palestinians from the EU,” he said in a post on X.