Tightened Aid Eligibility Criteria for Palestinians Being Implemented

Following the brutal Hamas attack on Israel, the European Union has put its support for the Palestinians to the test. The EU Commission submitted a report on aid amounting to 331 million euros for the current year, which showed no indication that EU money had flowed directly or indirectly to the radical Islamic Hamas. However, there is a suspicion that recipients of some of the funds may have taken part in hate speech and “glorification of terror”. Brussels demanded “further information” from local partners about a further 39 million euros, and aid worth 75 million euros for the Gaza Strip was classified as “unfeasible” and should be reallocated. Despite this review, humanitarian aid was not affected. Germany and other member states also put their national aid to the test after the Hamas attack on Israel. The federal government recently released a good 90 million euros for the Gaza Strip and Jordan. The review for other areas should “soon be completed,” as State Secretary in the Federal Development Ministry, Jochen Flasbarth, said on the sidelines of an EU meeting in Brussels.