France, Spain Oppose Suspending Aid to Palestinian Territories 

Palestinians inspect the destruction from Israeli airstrikes in Gaza City's al-Rimal neighborhood early on October 10, 2023. (AFP)
Palestinians inspect the destruction from Israeli airstrikes in Gaza City's al-Rimal neighborhood early on October 10, 2023. (AFP)
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France, Spain Oppose Suspending Aid to Palestinian Territories 

Palestinians inspect the destruction from Israeli airstrikes in Gaza City's al-Rimal neighborhood early on October 10, 2023. (AFP)
Palestinians inspect the destruction from Israeli airstrikes in Gaza City's al-Rimal neighborhood early on October 10, 2023. (AFP)

France and Spain said on Tuesday they oppose suspending aid to the Palestinian territories.

France is not in favor of suspending aid that benefits Palestinians directly in response to a recent outbreak of violence in Israel, the foreign ministry in Paris said.

"We are not in favor of suspending aid that directly benefits the Palestinian people, and we made this clear to the European Commission yesterday," the ministry said in a statement.

The Spanish Acting Foreign Minister Jose Manuel Albares said his government opposes the proposed suspension of European Union aid to the Palestinians.

"This cooperation must continue, we cannot confuse Hamas, which is in the list of EU's terrorist groups, with the Palestinian population, or the Palestinian Authority or the United Nation's organizations on the ground," Albares said in an interview with Spanish radio Cadena SER.

He added that Palestinian territories will likely need more aid in the near future after Hamas' Saturday attack on Israel and Israel's subsequent bombardment of the Gaza Strip.

EU foreign ministers will meet to discuss the issue on Tuesday afternoon.



Hezbollah Says Fired Missiles at Base Near South Israel's Ashdod

Israel’s Iron Dome anti-missile system operates to intercept incoming projectiles, amid hostilities between Hezbollah and Israeli forces, in Nahariya, Israel, November 21, 2024. REUTERS/Thomas Peter
Israel’s Iron Dome anti-missile system operates to intercept incoming projectiles, amid hostilities between Hezbollah and Israeli forces, in Nahariya, Israel, November 21, 2024. REUTERS/Thomas Peter
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Hezbollah Says Fired Missiles at Base Near South Israel's Ashdod

Israel’s Iron Dome anti-missile system operates to intercept incoming projectiles, amid hostilities between Hezbollah and Israeli forces, in Nahariya, Israel, November 21, 2024. REUTERS/Thomas Peter
Israel’s Iron Dome anti-missile system operates to intercept incoming projectiles, amid hostilities between Hezbollah and Israeli forces, in Nahariya, Israel, November 21, 2024. REUTERS/Thomas Peter

Hezbollah said its fighters on Thursday fired missiles at a military base near south Israel’s Ashdod, the first time it has targeted so deep inside Israel in more than a year of hostilities.

Hezbollah fighters "targeted... for the first time, the Hatzor air base" east of the southern city, around 150 kilometers from Lebanon’s southern border with Israel, "with a missile salvo," the Iran-backed group said in a statement.

A rocket fired from Lebanon killed a man and wounded two others in northern Israel on Thursday, according to the Magen David Adom rescue service.
The service said paramedics found the body of the man in his 30s near a playground in the town of Nahariya, near the border with Lebanon, after a rocket attack on Thursday.
Israel meanwhile struck targets in southern Lebanon and several buildings south of Beirut, the Lebanese capital.

Israel has launched airstrikes against Lebanon after Hezbollah began firing rockets, drones and missiles into Israel the day after Hamas' attack on Israel last October. A full-blown war erupted in September after nearly a year of lower-level conflict.
More than 3,500 people have been killed in Lebanon, according to the country’s Health Ministry, and over 1 million people have been displaced. It is not known how many of those killed were Hezbollah fighters and how many were civilians.
On the Israeli side, Hezbollah’s aerial attacks have killed more than 70 people and driven some 60,000 from their homes.