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The German government decided to review its development and infrastructure aid to the Palestinian territories and suspended payments.

In a statement made by the Ministry of Development, it was reported that the issue of payment is currently being comprehensively reviewed and temporarily suspended.

Development Minister Svenja Schulze said: "We stand in full solidarity with Israel at this difficult time. We have always been sensitive to the fact that our support for the people in the Palestinian territories serves peace, but these attacks on Israel are a terrible turning point. We will therefore review our entire commitment to the Palestinian territories."

The German Foreign Ministry had so far provided 73 million euros in humanitarian aid. The vast majority of the 73 million euros is being used for food aid and health care through international non-governmental organisations and the United Nations (UN). For this year and next, the German Ministry for Development has committed around 125 million euros for bilateral development co-operation in the Palestinian territories.

Baerbock: Humanitarian aid must continue

Foreign Minister Annalena Baerbock told n-TV that humanitarian aid must continue in the Palestinian territories. Baerbock emphasised that Germany does not finance any terrorist groups and is cooperating with the UN and NGOs to prevent direct payments to the Palestinian Authority.

Michael Roth, Chairman of the German Bundestag's Foreign Affairs Committee, also called for the continuation of humanitarian aid in the Palestinian territories.

Austria stops aid

Austria was also one of the countries that stopped the aid. Austrian Foreign Minister Alexander Schallenberg said they had suspended aid projects totalling 19 million euros.

Schallenberg told ORF radio, "Things cannot be the same as before. We are therefore freezing all payments under development co-operation for the time being."

Many EU countries also opposed the suspension of aid to Palestine.

France wants EU aid to continue

In a statement made by the French Foreign Ministry to BFMTV, it was stated that France opposes the suspension of EU aid to Palestine.

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

The statement underlined that the aid provided through the UN in particular to support the Palestinian people in the fields of water, health, food security and education covers the direct needs of the Palestinian people, and emphasised that these aids are consistent with France's commitments.

Spain Continued assistance

Spain is also opposed to the suspension of EU financial aid for Palestinian development.

Although there was no official statement, several media outlets, including the official news agency EFE, citing government sources, reported that the government disagreed with the EU's decision to halt aid.

Spain has reportedly requested that the issue be put on the agenda of the EU Foreign Ministers' meeting to be held today via video conference.

Belgium Humanitarian aid will continue

Belgium announced that it will continue humanitarian aid to Palestine. Belgian Minister for Development Co-operation Caroline Gennez told Belgian radio Radio 1 that they are closely following the situation in Palestine, that they aim to continue the aid and that they will determine their attitude in consultation with other EU members.

Gennez stated that Belgium does not provide direct aid to any authority in Palestine and that the aid is provided to the people in need through local partners.

Belgium had pledged 70 million euros in aid to Palestine for the next 5 years.

UK will not stop aid

The UK, which is not a member of the EU, reportedly has no intention of cutting aid.

According to British media reports, a government source said there were no plans to end millions of dollars in foreign aid to Palestine through the UN, but suggested that payments could be reviewed to bring the UK in line with its European counterparts.

Ireland opposed the EU's first decision

Ireland was among the countries that rejected the EU Commission's decision to put more than €691 million in aid under review.

A spokesperson for the Irish Foreign Ministry said that the unilateral decision by Oliver Varhelyi, EU Commissioner for neighbourhood and enlargement, "has no legal basis" and that they "do not support the suspension of aid".

The spokesperson said that they asked the EU Commission to explain the legal basis for this decision.