World
Germany to review aid to Palestinians after Hamas attack Israel
German Chancellor Olaf Scholz also voiced support for Israel and its right to defend against terrorism
FP Staff Last Updated:October 08, 2023 20:38:30 IST 
German Chancellor Olaf Scholz gives a statement to comment on the situation in Israel, on 8 October 8, 2023, at the Chancellery in Berlin. AFP
Germany Sunday said it was reviewing its aid to Palestine, which runs into hundreds of millions of Euros, after Hamas’ attack on Israel.
According to the Guardian, Development Minister Svenja Schulze said the German government was always careful to ensure that the monetary aid was only used for peaceful ends. “But these attacks on Israel mark a terrible fracture,” she said.
“We will now review our entire engagement for the Palestinian territories.”
Related Articles
India sends humanitarian aid to Palestine amid Israel-Hamas war
Israel-Hamas War Day 7: What we know so far
Some German lawmakers even called for ending the aid altogether.
“All of Europe, all 27 states, must now say: we need a new start and we will no longer finance terrorists,” Armin Laschet, chancellor candidate for the conservatives at the last federal election, was quoted as saying by Guardian.
He called upon the European Unions to end cooperation with the President of the Palestinian Authority, President Mahmoud Abbas.
Gregor Gysi, a prominent member of the opposition Left party argued against such a move, saying Hamas, and not all Palestinians, were responsible for the attack.
Israel has the right to defend itself against “barbaric attacks”, German Chancellor Olaf Scholz said Sunday, after the Palestinian militant group Hamas’s massive surprise assault.
Chancellor Olaf Scholz, speaking at a presser, also voiced his support for Israel and its right “to protect its citizens and to pursue the attackers.”
Scholz said he planned to hold talks with leaders from Egypt, the United States, Britain and France.
“We are doing everything in our power to ensure that this attack does not turn into a conflagration with incalculable consequences for the entire region, and we warn everyone against fuelling and spreading terror in this situation,” he said.
Scholz said he had spoken to Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu, and told him that Germany stands “firmly and unwaveringly by Israel’s side”.
He also said, “we do not accept the heinous attacks against Israel being celebrated here on our streets. The suffering, the destruction, the death of so many people cannot be a cause for joy”.
Meanwhile, on the ground, the Israeli army was evacuating the settlements near the Gaza Border as it prepared for the possibility of an invasion into the Gaza Strip.
Fighting between Israeli security forces and Hamas terrorists, who infiltrated into southern Israel on Saturday, continued at several places.
Hamas militants launched a multi-pronged incursion into southern Israel on Saturday, killing over 600, and injuring over 2,000 others. Over 100 Israelis are held captive by Hamas, according to Israel’s press office.
Around 400 were killed and over 2000 were wounded in Gaza as Israel pounds the Hamas stronghold, taking the total tally of deaths in the ongoing conflict to around 1000.
With AFP inputs
