UN Secretary-General Antonio Guterres said Monday he was “deeply distressed” by Israel’s imposition of a total siege on the Gaza Strip following Hamas’ assault on the country.

“The humanitarian situation in Gaza was extremely dire before these hostilities,” Guterres told reporters. “Now it will only deteriorate exponentially.”

EU suspends development aid payments to Palestinians

The EU has halted development aid payments to the Palestinians and is placing 691 million euros ($728 million) of support “under review” after the Hamas assault on Israel, Brussels said Monday.

“The scale of terror and brutality against Israel and its people is a turning point. There can be no business as usual,” European Union Commissioner for Neighbourhood and Enlargement Oliver Varhelyi posted on social media.

“As the biggest donor of the Palestinians, the European Commission is putting its full development portfolio under review, worth a total of 691 million euros ($728 million),” he added, in a message confirmed by a commission spokesman.

Varhelyi said the move meant “all payments immediately suspended. All projects put under review. All new budget proposals, including for 2023 postponed until further notice. Comprehensive assessment of the whole portfolio”.

EU foreign ministers are to hold emergency talks Tuesday on the situation in Israel and Gaza after the unprecedented attack by Hamas Islamist militants.

“Incitement to hatred, violence and glorification of terror have poisoned the minds of too many,” Varhelyi said. “We need action and we need it now.”

While the European Commission press service confirmed Varhelyi’s statement, it raised eyebrows in Brussels. One European diplomat told AFP that his member state was “surprised” by the announcement.

And Luxembourg’s acting foreign minister Jean Asselborn insisted that his government did not support the suspension of aid.

“Two million people live in Gaza. They are also hostages of Hamas. With these methods, we push them into the arms of terrorists,” he said.

“We are the largest donor to Gaza. This help is important for young people. This is not money for Hamas. It is for the people of Gaza,” he told AFP.

But the EU suspension is likely to be supported by other EU states, including the richest, Germany, which announced that it was suspending its own direct aid to the Palestinians.

“It is being examined, that is, temporarily suspended,” said a spokeswoman from the German ministry for economic cooperation and development.

The EU announced in February that it was contributing 296 million euros for the 2022 budget year to help the Palestinian Authority pay civil servant salaries, pensions, medical services and fund infrastructure projects.

The bloc says it would provide “up to 1.177 billion euros in financial support from 2021 to 2024”.

A European Commission spokeswoman insisted earlier on Monday EU aid “does not fund Hamas or any other terrorist organisation activities, either directly or indirectly”.