EU Chief Says Hamas Attack an ‘Act of War,’ Backs Full Review of Palestinian Aid – News18

EU chief Ursula von der Leyen on Wednesday termed the Palestinian militant outfit Hamas’s attack a cold-blooded “act of war”. Speaking at a meeting of European commissioners, von der Leyen also backed a full review of the EU’s multi-million-euro financial support for Palestinian projects. “We have to be clear in defining this kind of horror,” she said. “And there can only be one response to it. Europe stands with Israel. And we fully support Israel’s right to defend itself.”

On Saturday, Hamas stormed Israel’s border around the Gaza enclave and launched attacks on civilian and military targets, leaving more than 1,200 dead. Israel has responded with artillery and air strikes, and Gaza officials estimate more than 900 Palestinians are dead. Most world leaders, including ones from EU member states, have responded with expressions of solidarity with Israel. “It is terrorism. And it is an act of war,” von der Leyen said. However, they are also concerned that Israel keeps its response within the limits of international law.

Earlier this week, the EU reversed course on the decision to suspend payment of development aid to Palestinians after an earlier announcement that it would freeze all aid payments was met with widespread criticism. After stating that it was putting all 691 million euros of development aid to Palestinians under review, the EU later said it would review payments to ensure they are not being misused.

“There will be no suspension of payments,” a short European Commission statement said late on Monday, five hours after EU Commissioner Oliver Varhelyi had said that all payments from the development programme for Palestinians would be “immediately suspended. All projects put under review. All new budget proposals … postponed until further notice”.

His announcement appeared to take a number of EU states by surprise, with Spain, Ireland and Luxembourg expressing opposition. Critics argued that the EU may be punishing all Palestinians for an attack by Hamas, which has killed hundreds over 1000 Israelis.

After mixed signals from Brussels over the future of its financial support, EU top diplomat Josep Borrell on Tuesday said an “overwhelming majority” of EU states oppose suspending aid to the Palestinian Authority. “Not all the Palestinian people are terrorists,” he said. “A collective punishment against all Palestinians will be unfair, and unproductive. It will be against our interest and against the interest of peace.”

However, Borrell added that there will not be an increased need for humanitarian assistance for Gaza. “The fact is that at the moment the casualties in Gaza are also increasing, 150,000 people are internally displaced and the humanitarian situation is dire,” Borrell said. “So we will have to support more, not less, more.”

(With agency inputs)