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EU Commission Suspends ‘All Payments Immediately’ to Palestinians Following Hamas Attack

Palestinians inspect the destruction around Ahmed Yassin mosque, which was levelled by Israeli airstrikes, in Gaza City early on October 9, 2023. (AFP)
Palestinians inspect the destruction around Ahmed Yassin mosque, which was levelled by Israeli airstrikes, in Gaza City early on October 9, 2023. (AFP)
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EU Commission Suspends ‘All Payments Immediately’ to Palestinians Following Hamas Attack

Palestinians inspect the destruction around Ahmed Yassin mosque, which was levelled by Israeli airstrikes, in Gaza City early on October 9, 2023. (AFP)
Palestinians inspect the destruction around Ahmed Yassin mosque, which was levelled by Israeli airstrikes, in Gaza City early on October 9, 2023. (AFP)

European Union Commissioner Oliver Varhelyi said Monday the bloc is suspending “all payments immediately” to the Palestinians because of what he called the “scale of terror and brutality” during the attacks on Israel by Hamas.

The surprise announcement by Varhelyi came just hours after EU officials stressed that no EU money whatsoever was going to Hamas in the first place and that contacts had been frozen for 16 years. The EU considers Hamas a terror group.

Queries about what the move entailed and whether it would hit all humanitarian aid to Palestinians were not immediately answered.

Varhelyi said that “as the biggest donor of the Palestinians, the European Commission is putting its full development portfolio under review,” which he said amounted to 691 million euros.

Varhelyi said that the measures include that “all payments (be) immediately suspended. All projects put under review. All new budget proposals … postponed until further notice.”

The EU says it is the biggest donor to the Palestinian people and has been advocating for years for the two-state approach that has guided international diplomacy since the 1993 Oslo peace accords between Israel and the Palestine Liberation Organization.

EU foreign ministers are slated to meet in Muscat, Oman, on Tuesday to discuss the situation and see what actions should be taken. Varhelyi’s announcement seemed to preempt the discussions.

“There can be no business as usual,” Varhelyi said on X, formerly known as Twitter.

“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,” the commissioner wrote.

During an earlier briefing Monday, the EU Commission sought to draw a clear line between Hamas, which it considers a terrorist organization, and the Palestinian people, who are in need of humanitarian aid.

According to the bloc, it has provided humanitarian aid to help meet Palestinians’ basic needs since 2000 through the European Commission’s humanitarian aid department (ECHO) and the UN Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs (OCHA). Since 2000, ECHO has provided 700 million euros of humanitarian aid to Palestinians in the Gaza Strip and the West Bank.

The EU’s most populous member, Germany, and its neighbor Austria also said they were suspending development aid for the Palestinian areas.

The Development Ministry in Berlin said there was no direct German financing of the Palestinian Authority, but a total of 250 million euros ($265 million) is currently pledged in German aid — half of that for bilateral projects via Germany’s overseas aid agency and development bank and the other half for the UN agency for the Palestinians, UNRWA.

Like the EU Commission, Development Minister Svenja Schulze said in a statement that Germany took great care that its aid for Palestinians “serves peace and not the terrorists.”

“But these attacks on Israel are a terrible watershed, so we will review our whole commitment to the Palestinian areas,” she added.

Schulze said that Germany wants above all to discuss with Israel “how we can best serve peace in the region and security for Israel with our development projects.”  

She noted that Israel also has an interest in Palestinians being able to live in long-term stability, and said Germany will also coordinate with its international partners.

Germany is not suspending the humanitarian aid it provides separately via international NGOs and the UN, the Foreign Ministry said. Ministry spokesperson Christian Wagner said Monday that much of the 72 million euros pledged this year has been paid out, and payments will continue because they support “life-saving work.”

Austrian Foreign Minister Alexander Schallenberg told Oe1 radio on Monday that all development aid payments will be “put on ice for now.” He put the funds affected at about 19 million euros.

He said that Austria will review all projects with the Palestinian areas and consult with its international partners on further steps

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Death Trap in Gaza Will Scar Generations

Photograph taken inside Nasser Hospital, after a siege by the Israeli forces. At the end of January, the Israeli forces issued evacuation orders for the entire area and surrounded the hospital, which found itself at the center of intense fighting for several weeks. (MSF)
Photograph taken inside Nasser Hospital, after a siege by the Israeli forces. At the end of January, the Israeli forces issued evacuation orders for the entire area and surrounded the hospital, which found itself at the center of intense fighting for several weeks. (MSF)
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Death Trap in Gaza Will Scar Generations

Photograph taken inside Nasser Hospital, after a siege by the Israeli forces. At the end of January, the Israeli forces issued evacuation orders for the entire area and surrounded the hospital, which found itself at the center of intense fighting for several weeks. (MSF)
Photograph taken inside Nasser Hospital, after a siege by the Israeli forces. At the end of January, the Israeli forces issued evacuation orders for the entire area and surrounded the hospital, which found itself at the center of intense fighting for several weeks. (MSF)

Repeated Israeli military attacks on Palestinian civilians over the last 14 months, the dismantling of the healthcare system and other essential infrastructure, the suffocating siege, and the systematic denial of humanitarian assistance are destroying life conditions in Gaza, according to a new Doctors Without Borders report “Gaza: Life in a death trap.”
Christopher Lockyear, MSF secretary general, who visited Gaza earlier this year, said “People in Gaza are struggling to survive apocalyptic conditions, but nowhere is safe, no one is spared, and there is no exit from this shattered enclave.”
He added that the recent military offensive in the north is a stark illustration of the brutal war the Israeli forces are waging on Gaza, and we are seeing clear signs of ethnic cleansing as Palestinians are forcibly displaced, trapped, and bombed.
“What our medical teams have witnessed on the ground throughout this conflict is consistent with the descriptions provided by an increasing number of legal experts and organizations concluding that genocide is taking place in Gaza,” he said.
Also, the secretary general noted that “while we don’t have legal authority to establish intentionality, the signs of ethnic cleansing and the ongoing devastation—including mass killings, severe physical and mental health injuries, forced displacement, and impossible conditions of life for Palestinians under siege and bombardment—are undeniable.”
The United Nations estimated earlier this year that more than 10,000 bodies remained buried under the rubble.
Israeli forces have on numerous occasions prevented essential items such as food, water, and medical supplies from entering the Strip, as well as blocked, denied, and delayed humanitarian assistance, as documented in the report.
Some 1.9 million people—90% of the entire population of the Strip—have been forcibly displaced, many forced to move multiple times.
The situation in northern Gaza is especially dire following Israel’s recent scorched earth military offensive that has depopulated large areas and reportedly killed almost 2,000 people.
The northern part of the Strip, particularly Jabalia camp, has been besieged again by Israeli forces since Oct. 6, 2024.
Israeli authorities have dramatically reduced the quantity of essential aid authorized to enter the north.
“For more than a year, our medical staff in Gaza have witnessed a relentless campaign by the Israeli forces marked by massive destruction, devastation, and dehumanization,” said Lockyear.
“Palestinians have been killed in their homes and in hospital beds. They have been forcibly displaced time and time again to areas that are not safe or healthy. People cannot find even the most basic necessities like food, clean water, medicines, and soap amid a punishing siege and blockade,” he added.
MSF called on states, particularly Israel’s closest allies, to end their unconditional support for Israel and fulfill their obligation to prevent genocide in Gaza.
Nearly a year ago, on Jan. 26, the International Court of Justice (ICJ) ordered Israel to take “immediate and effective measures to enable the provision of urgently needed basic services and humanitarian assistance to address the adverse conditions of life faced by Palestinians in the Gaza Strip.”
Israel has taken no meaningful action to comply with the court order, the MSF report said.
Instead, Israeli authorities continue to actively block MSF and other humanitarian organizations from providing lifesaving assistance to people trapped under siege and bombardment.
MSF said that States must leverage their influence to alleviate the suffering of the population and enable a massive scale-up of humanitarian assistance across the Gaza Strip.
Describing Israel as the occupying power, MSF said Israeli authorities are responsible for ensuring the rapid, unimpeded, and safe delivery of humanitarian aid at the level sufficient to address people’s needs.
Instead, MSF said Israel’s blockade and continued obstruction of aid have made it close to impossible for people in Gaza to access essential goods, including fuel, food, water, and medicines.
At the same time, Israel has decided to effectively ban the United Nations Relief and Works Agency for Palestine Refugees in the Near East, which is the largest provider of aid, health care, and other vital services for Palestinians, it added.
MSF repeated its call for an immediate and sustained ceasefire.
It said the total destruction of Palestinian life in Gaza must stop.
MSF said it is also calling for immediate and safe access to northern Gaza to allow the delivery of humanitarian aid and medical supplies to hospitals.
Its report noted that even if the Israeli military offensive on Gaza ended today, its long-term impacts would be unprecedented, given the scale of the destruction and the extraordinary challenges of providing health care across the Strip.
It said a staggering number of war-wounded people are at risk of infection, amputation, and permanent disability, and many will require years of rehabilitative care.
“The cumulative physical toll and mental trauma caused by the extreme violence, loss of family members and homes, repeated forced displacement, and inhumane living conditions will scar generations,” MSF added.