Austria ends its suspension of aid to Palestinians

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Austria has said it was ending a suspension of aid to Palestinians that it announced two days after the Hamas attack on Israel, since a review had found no indication funds were being used to fund or promote terrorism, Reuters reports.

“There is no indication that Austrian development projects funded by the ADA (Austrian Development Agency) were misused to fund or promote terrorism or to spread anti-Semitic content,” Austria’s Foreign Ministry said in a statement.

Nine projects funded by Austria had been reviewed with a total value of 17.5 million euros ($18.8 million), it said.

It did not specify what proportion of the projects were in the West Bank, which is controlled by the Western-backed Palestinian Authority led by President Mahmoud Abbas, whose Fatah movement is a rival to Hamas.

The conservative People’s Party (OVP) that leads Austria’s ruling coalition has recently positioned the neutral country as one of the most pro-Israel members of the European Union.

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