With the attack of Hamas against Israel the discussion on its revision was also opened German financial support for the Palestinianswith many politicians calling for an immediate halt to the disbursement of promised funds.

The leader of the Liberals (FDP) and Minister of Finance, Christian Lindner, asked Foreign Minister Analena Burbock to suggest how the German state should proceed with financial aid “in light of this violence”. The also liberal head of the Bundestag’s Defense Committee Marie-Agnes Strack-Zimmermann stressed the need to review aid funds to the Palestinians. “Hamas’ attack on civilians should be taken as an occasion to review all aid funds from Germany, the European Union and the UN destined for the Gaza Strip and how they are usedMs. Strack-Zimmerman told the Funke Group newspapers. Germany “has pledged more than €340 million in aid. These should now be stopped immediately. Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas sided with Hamas, so this money should not flow. It is not enough to simply express our political concern. Specific actions must also be taken“, emphasized for his part the Christian Democratic Party (CDU) responsible for Defense issues Roderick Kieseweter.

The General Secretary of the FDP, Bijan Djir-Zarai, also condemned the celebrations of Hamas supporters in Berlin yesterday. “Celebrating and cheering the barbaric terrorism of Hamas is disgusting. Those who do have no place in our society“, he emphasized in his statement to BILD and he also asked for them to be stopped “any funds allocated to anti-Semitic or anti-Israel purposes – and this also applies to Palestinian front organizations in Germany». The General Secretary of the FDP also requested “to immediately consider banning hate-mongering organizations such as Samidoun».

In the same vein, the federal government’s commissioner for anti-Semitism, Felix Klein, told BILD that after the Hamas attack on Israel, all German and international aid funds for the Gaza Strip and the West Bank should be reviewed. “The brazen and aggressive behavior of Hamas supporters in Germany is also unacceptable. The police and the Agency for the Protection of the Constitution are now urgently called upon to prevent the activities of this terrorist organization in Germany“, he underlined.

“Terrorism and anti-Semitism must not be financed with German tax money“, said the president of the German-Israeli Society, Volker Beckwho however clarified that he is not asking for a stoppage of payments, but stricter conditions and control and “clear decisions by the Budget Committee and the Bundestag on the 2024 budget». According to the federal ministry of development aid, Germany is “one of the largest donors” to the Palestinian Territories.

The former head of the Parliamentary Group of the Left expressed an opposite opinion, Gregor Gizzi, pointing out that German aid to Palestinian organizations should not be stopped. “They should be supported, but not Hamas. The attack comes from it alone,” Mr Gizi told Der Spiegel magazine, while condemning the organization for the attacks. “Many deaths and injuries are never something acceptable, hostages are unacceptable. And above all, they indiscriminately kill civilians. It is time for a political solution, but the Israeli government must be ready for it first“, he added.