Israel & Palestine Foreign Mins Invited To EU Meeting Amid Aid Row

European Commission High Representative for Foreign Affairs and Security Policy Josep Borrell has stated that Israeli Foreign Minister Eli Cohen and the Palestinian Authority's Foreign Minister Riyad Al-Maliki have been invited to attend and address respectively the emergency meeting of EU foreign ministers. The videoconference takes place at 1600CET (1000ET, 1500BST) on 10 October, with Borrell hosting from Muscat, Oman where he is attending the EU-GCC Joint Council.

• Long-standing divisions within the EU regarding Israel/Palestine stances have been exposed after an initial announcement of a review of all development aid to Palestine was rowed back within 24 hours. On 10 Oct, European Commissioner for Neighbourhood and Enlargement Olivér Várhelyi announced on X that the EUR691mn in funding was under review and "immediately suspended".
• This caused uproar among some EU members, including Spain, Portugal, Ireland and Luxembourg who raised concerns about halting aid to civilian groups. Germany, Denmark, Austria and others have already moved to halt bilateral aid provision to Palestine.
• The Commission released a statement saying that as there were no payments scheduled, then none have been suspended, but that a review was taking place. Borrell then added to the confusion, stating that "due payments" would not be affected, despite the Commission claiming none were scheduled.
• Speaking in Hamburg, Germany, French President Emmanuel Macron stated that "We should not confound fight against terrorism with with needed humanitarian efforts."