Ireland one of four EU states to oppose Palestine payment suspension

The EU found itself in a diplomatic row after mistakenly announcing the suspension of "all payments" to Palestinians, a move that was opposed by four key member states including Ireland, Spain, Luxembourg and the Netherlands. As of Tuesday morning, France joined them in opposition.

On Monday, it was announced by EU Commissioner Oliver Várhelyi 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."

•All payments immediately suspended.
•All projects put under review.
•All new budget proposals, incl. for 2023 postponed until further notice.
•Comprehensive assessment of the whole portfolio.

— Oliver Varhelyi (@OliverVarhelyi) October 9, 2023

A spokesman for Ireland's foreign ministry responded to the announcement. “We have seen the tweet issued this afternoon by Commissioner Várhelyi... our understanding is that there is no legal basis for a unilateral decision of this kind by an individual commissioner and we do not expect a suspension of aid,” he said, reiterating the confusion that followed the premature announcement.

Five hours after the original announcement, the European Commission posted a short update, announcing that "there will be no suspension of payments."

The payment block was proposed after the escalation of violence over the past few days between Hamas and Israel. After a surprise attack by Hamas on multiple locations in Israel including an attack on a music festival near the Gaza Strip, Israel has declared a "state of war" on Palestine and launched a series of counterattacks.

The Hamas attack has brought widespread condemnation, but Ireland and the other opposing countries argued that suspending aid payments to Palestine is unjustifiable. Furthermore, the EU has been clear that it does not send payment to Hamas either directly or indirectly, which brought scrutiny over what the cuts were supposed to achieve.

The Mission of the State of Palestine in Ireland has since expressed its gratefulness to Ireland and other countries that opposed the cuts.

Thank you Ireland 🇮🇪 Spain 🇪🇸 Luxembourg 🇱🇺 and Denmark 🇩🇰 https://t.co/ayIdAFOQfZ

— Mission of the State of Palestine in Ireland (@IrePalestine) October 9, 2023

Reaction to the news keeps pouring in, the most recent from former UK Labour Party leader Jeremy Corbyn. "The horrific attacks on civilians in Israel were deplorable," he wrote in a statement posted to Twitter. He continued, "This cannot justify the indiscriminate killing of Palestinians, who are paying the price for a crime they did not commit."

Today, I'm thinking of all those in Israel and Palestine suffering unimaginable pain, trauma and fear.

The horrific attacks on civilians in Israel were deplorable. This cannot justify the indiscriminate killing of Palestinians, who are paying the price for a crime they did not…

— Jeremy Corbyn (@jeremycorbyn) October 10, 2023