Contrary to an earlier statement, the European Union on Monday announced it will not suspend aid to Palestinian authorities.

This morning, EU commissioner Oliver Varhelyi said all payments from the organization’s €691 million — the equivalent of $728 million — development program would be “immediately suspended.” Varhelyi added that all projects would be put under review, all new budget proposals postponed, and that the EU would undertake a “comprehensive assessment of the whole portfolio.” 

“Incitement to hatred, violence, and glorification of terror have poisoned the minds of too many,” Varhelyi wrote in a post on X (formerly Twitter). 

That commitment did not last long. Monday afternoon, the European Commission issued a press release stating that, rather than suspending aid, it is “launching an urgent review of the EU’s assistance for Palestine.” The objective of the review, the statement reads, “is to ensure that no EU funding indirectly enables any terrorist organization to carry out attacks against Israel.” At the bottom of the press release is a qualification: “This review does not concern assistance provided under European Civil Protection and Humanitarian Aid Operations (ECHO). 

ECHO’s website features a raft of criticisms of Israel, including blaming the Jewish state for a stagnant Gazan economy, and it describes the situation in Gaza as one of “recurrent cycles of hostilities, greater divisions and a blockade” that have “considerably worsened people’s living conditions.” Also on the website is a list of countries in the Middle East and North Africa to which ECHO provides humanitarian aid. Israel is not on that list.

In a statement posted on X hours after the Hamas attack began, European Commission president Ursula von der Leyen wrote that she supports Israel in its self-defense.

The EU has not given an official explanation for why it has made the decision to reverse course and contradict the earlier announcement, but reporting suggests that the EU had been split on the question of whether to freeze financial assistance to Palestinians. Three member states — Denmark, Ireland, and Luxembourg — reportedly sought to convince EU members to call for Israel to de-escalate rather than respond to Hamas terrorism.