RSS
EU members are locked in debates about whether to freeze aid to the Palestinians
(JTA) — A number of European countries — in addition to the European Union’s governing body — are considering suspending their financial assistance to the Palestinians in the wake of Hamas’ attacks that have left over 1,200 Israelis dead.
The EU and many of its member states provide over $700 million annually to the Palestinian Authority and Gaza. Many consider Hamas as a terrorist organization.
Austrian Foreign Minister Alexander Schallenberg announced Monday that his country was suspending all of its aid of close to $20 million. He did not distinguish between aid to Gaza and to the Palestinian Authority, which is based in Ramallah, Reuters reported.
Denmark and Sweden both announced on Tuesday that they would suspend developmental aid but continue to send humanitarian assistance.
Others are publicly wrestling with the issue in public view — including the European Union, which has see-sawed in statements from different officials.
European Commissioner for Neighbourhood and Enlargement Oliver Varhelyi said Monday that the EU would postpone all new payments, including for the current year “until further notice.” He said there could be no “business as usual” given the atrocities.
Then Josep Borrell, the EU’s foreign affairs commissioner, said after an emergency meeting of EU and Gulf Cooperation Council foreign ministers on Tuesday in Oman that the body would not be freezing Palestinian aid. He said an “overwhelming majority” of European foreign ministers supported continuing aid and that “some decisions” by the Israeli military in recent days — including the decision to cut off power and water in the Gaza strip — are “contrary to international law.”
But on Wednesday, Ursula von der Leyen, president of the European Commission — one of the EU’s executive branches — signaled that the EU would indeed review its funding stance.
“Our humanitarian support to the Palestinian people is not in question. Yet it is important that we carefully review our financial assistance for Palestine. EU funding has never and will never go to Hamas or any terrorist entity. So we will now again review the entire portfolio in light of an evolving situation on the ground,” she wrote in a statement.
Ahead of the ministers’ meeting in Oman, Spain was among the member nations arguing that suspension of aid would be “counterproductive.” Acting Foreign Minister Jose Manuel Albares told Spanish media it was unfair to punish the Palestinian people.
According to Reuters, Dutch Prime Minister Mark Rutte agreed with that stance and said aid to Palestinians should continue, since they also were the victims of Hamas. France, too, has rejected the total suspension of aid.
Germany announced Monday that it was reviewing its funding portfolio and will investigate Hamas for suspected murder, manslaughter and hostage-taking, the tabloid BILD first reported. Germany’s foreign ministry confirmed that German citizens were among those kidnapped by the terrorists.
Svenja Schulze, head of Germany’s economic and development ministry, told German media that all Palestinian projects would be reexamined thoroughly after the “shock” of Hamas’ violent attacks against civilians. Around $132 million had been earmarked for bilateral development in 2023-24.
In Germany, popular sentiment is increasingly critical of Israel’s settlement policies, though a survey of 2,512 adults last April marking Israel’s 75th anniversary showed overwhelming support for efforts to normalize relations between Israel and its neighbors. More than two thirds supported the notion of closer cooperation between Germany and Israel. About 60% agreed that Germany has a “special” relationship with Israel due to the Holocaust.
Felix Klein, the country’s commissioner against antisemitism, told the BILD newspaper that “all German and international aid funds for the Gaza Strip and the West Bank should be reconsidered.”
Josef Schuster, head of the Central Council of Jews in Germany, in a statement argued that “The Palestinian terror that we see was also financed with German taxes.” He called for “an immediate end to all financial support.”
On Wednesday, German Chancellor Olaf Scholz urged Germans to “guarantee the safety of our Jewish fellow citizens” by showing solidarity with them.
—
The post EU members are locked in debates about whether to freeze aid to the Palestinians appeared first on Jewish Telegraphic Agency.
RSS
Netanyahu Posts Message Appearing to Confirm Hamas Leaders Survived Doha Strike
Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu speaks during a Plenum session of the Knesset, Israel’s Parliament, in Jerusalem, June 11, 2025. Photo: REUTERS/Ronen Zvulun
i24 News – In a statement posted to social media on Saturday evening, Israel’s Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu condemned the Qatar-based leadership of Hamas, reiterating that the jihadist group had to regard for the lives of Gazans and represented an obstacle to ending the war and releasing the Israelis it held hostage.
The wording of Netanyahu’s message appeared to confirm that the strike targeting the Hamas leaders in Doha was not crowned with success.
“The Hamas terrorists chiefs living in Qatar don’t care about the people in Gaza,” wrote Netanyahu. “They blocked all ceasefire attempts in order to endlessly drag out the war.” He added that “Getting rid of them would rid the main obstacle to releasing all our hostages and ending the war.”
Israel is yet to officially comment on the result of the strike, which has incurred widespread international criticism.
RSS
Trump Hosts Qatari Prime Minister After Israeli Attack in Doha
Qatar’s Prime Minister and Minister for Foreign Affairs Sheikh Mohammed bin Abdulrahman bin Jassim Al-Thani attends an emergency meeting of the United Nations Security Council, following an Israeli attack on Hamas leaders in Doha, Qatar, at UN headquarters in New York City, US, Sept. 11, 2025. Photo: REUTERS/Eduardo Munoz
US President Donald Trump held dinner with the Qatari prime minister in New York on Friday, days after US ally Israel attacked Hamas leaders in Doha.
Israel attempted to kill the political leaders of Hamas with an attack in Qatar on Tuesday, a strike that risked derailing US-backed efforts to broker a truce in Gaza and end the nearly two-year-old conflict. The attack was widely condemned in the Middle East and beyond as an act that could escalate tensions in a region already on edge.
Trump expressed annoyance about the strike in a phone call with Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu and sought to assure the Qataris that such attacks would not happen again.
Trump and Qatari Prime Minister Sheikh Mohammed bin Abdulrahman al-Thani were joined by a top Trump adviser, US special envoy Steve Witkoff.
“Great dinner with POTUS. Just ended,” Qatar’s deputy chief of mission, Hamah Al-Muftah, said on X.
The White House confirmed the dinner had taken place but offered no details.
The session followed an hour-long meeting that al-Thani had at the White House on Friday with Vice President JD Vance and Secretary of State Marco Rubio.
A source briefed on the meeting said they discussed Qatar’s future as a mediator in the region and defense cooperation in the wake of the Israeli strikes against Hamas in Doha.
Trump said he was unhappy with Israel’s strike, which he described as a unilateral action that did not advance US or Israeli interests.
Washington counts Qatar as a strong Gulf ally. Qatar has been a main mediator in long-running negotiations for a ceasefire between Israel and Palestinian militant group Hamas in Gaza, for the release of Israeli hostages held in Gaza and for a post-conflict plan for the territory.
Al-Thani blamed Israel on Tuesday for trying to sabotage chances for peace but said Qatar would not be deterred from its role as mediator.
RSS
Trump Urges NATO Countries to Halt Russian Oil Purchases
US President Donald Trump gestures during a cabinet meeting at the White House in Washington, DC, US, Aug. 26, 2025. Photo: Jonathan Ernst via Reuters Connect
i24 News – US President Donald Trump issued a letter to NATO nations on Saturday, impressing upon them to stop purchasing Russian oil and impose major sanctions on the regime of Vladimir Putin to end its war in Ukraine.
“I am ready to do major Sanctions on Russia when all NATO Nations have agreed, and started, to do the same thing, and when all NATO Nations STOP BUYING OIL FROM RUSSIA. As you know, NATO’S commitment to WIN has been far less than 100%, and the purchase of Russian Oil, by some, has been shocking! It greatly weakens your negotiating position, and bargaining power, over Russia,” the message read.
“Anyway, I am ready to ‘go’ when you are. Just say when? I believe that this, plus NATO, as a group, placing 50% to 100% TARIFFS ON CHINA, to be fully withdrawn after the WAR with Russia and Ukraine is ended, will also be of great help in ENDING this deadly, but RIDICULOUS, WAR. China has a strong control, and even grip, over Russia, and these powerful Tariffs will break that grip.”
Trump’s post comes after the recent flight of multiple Russian drones into Poland, widely perceived an escalatory move by Russia as it was entering the airspace of a NATO ally. Poland intercepted the drones, yet Trump played down the severity of the incident and Russia’s motives by saying it “could have been a mistake.”