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The EU’s plan to suspend all financial aid to Palestine has been blocked by four of the bloc’s member states.<\/p>\n
Spain, Denmark, Ireland and Luxembourg have been named as the countries which rejected a move by the European Commission to put more than $728 million of aid under review.<\/p>\n
The European Commission said on Monday “there will be no suspension of payments”, just five hours after it was stated that all payments from the development programme for Palestine would be “immediately suspended.\u00a0All projects put under review. All new budget proposals \u2026 postponed until further notice.\u201d<\/p>\n
However, until now, it wasn’t clear which member states were blocking the suspension and no immediate explanation for the reversal was given.<\/p>\n
Britain is also still willing to continue providing aid for Palestine.<\/p>\n
Since Saturday, support of the 27-nation bloc for Israel had been steadfast, including that the country had now every right within international law to defend itself in the war with Hamas.<\/p>\n
The EU considers Hamas a terror group.<\/p>\n
Although the EU will still be providing aid, the European Commission said it had started “an urgent review of the EU\u2019s assistance for Palestine”.<\/p>\n
Its statement said: “The objective of this review is to ensure that no EU funding indirectly enables any terrorist organization to carry out attacks against Israel.<\/p>\n
The EU says it already has very strict rules in place to screen and vet beneficiaries and to make sure no such funds are made available to terrorists.<\/p>\n
It added that the European Commission will “equally review if, in light of the changed circumstances on the ground, its support (programs) to the Palestinian population and to the Palestinian Authority need to be adjusted.”<\/p>\n