Brussels on Monday announced €620 million in grants for the Palestinian Authority (PA), which has hailed Hamas atrocities as “a source of pride, heroism, and honour for the Palestinian people.”
The funding—part of a wider €1.6 billion three-year financial support package for the Palestinians, much of which could land in the laps of Hamas and Hamas-backers—preceded the first high-level dialogue between the European Union (EU) and the PA.
Top EU diplomat Kaja Kallas said the money “will help stabilise the West Bank and Gaza” and boasted that
We are a long-standing partner for the PA.
European diplomats have also once again criticised Israeli strikes in Gaza, despite Benjamin Netanyahu repeatedly saying these strikes are pressuring Hamas to lower their demands in ceasefire negotiations, which should eventually result in the release of the remaining Israeli hostages.
In the UK, too, Foreign Minister David Lammy said on Sunday that Israel must end its “deplorable attacks” in Gaza.
After Hamas last week expressed gratitude for the effective support it is receiving from Europe, the Palestinian Authority’s foreign ministry also on Monday criticised Netanyahu for saying that French President Emmanuel Macron was “gravely mistaken” in advocating a Palestinian state. PA officials said the Israeli PM’s remarks were “unjustified.”
Elements of the European Left are, of course, still unhappy and insist Brussels should end its “complicity” in Israeli “war crimes and genocide.”
Meanwhile, in a further sign that strikes have been effective in pushing Hamas into a corner, the terror group said on Monday that it is willing to release all the remaining hostages in exchange for a “serious prisoner swap” and Israeli guarantees that the war in Gaza will come to an end. This is just days after U.S. President Donald Trump expressed hope that a new ceasefire deal in the Middle East is “getting closer.”
