EU reverses earlier announcement that it was suspending aid to Palestinians

EU said it would urgently review such assistance in the wake of the attacks on Israel by Hamas

The European Union on late Monday reversed an earlier announcement by an EU commissioner that the bloc 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.

There will be no suspension of payments at the moment, a terse European Commission statement said late Monday, five hours after EU Commissioner Oliver Varhelyi had said 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.

No immediate explanation for the reversal was given.

A full European Commission statement always trumps a statement from an EU commissioner, but the reversal on a 691 million-euro ($730 million) programme capped an embarrassing day at the EU's executive at a time of extreme geopolitical sensitivities.