European Union reverses earlier announcement that it was suspending development aid to Palestinians
By RAF CASERT
Associated Press
BRUSSELS (AP) — The European Union has reversed an earlier announcement that it was “immediately” suspending aid for Palestinian authorities and instead said it would urgently review such assistance in the wake of the attacks on Israel by Hamas. A terse European Commission statement said late Monday that “there will be no suspension of payments” at the moment. It came five hours after EU Commissioner Oliver Varhelyi had said that all payments from the development program for Palestinians be “immediately suspended. All projects put under review. All new budget proposals … postponed until further notice.” No immediate explanation for the reversal was given.