EU Foreign Policy chief accuses Israel of financing Hamas

Top EU diplomat Josep Borrell accused Hamas has openly accused Israel of having financed the Palestinian militant group Hamas so as to weaken the ruling Palestinian Authority.

The Spanish press quotes Borrell as saying that “Hamas was financed by the Israeli government in an attempt to weaken the Palestinian Authority, ” while speaking at Spain’s University of Valladolid, where Borrell was awarded an honorary doctorate.

Israel’s Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu has denied such allegations in the past.

Borrell, who is in charge of EU foreign policy, also stressed that the creation of a Palestinian state was necessary to resolve the ongoing fighting. “The only solution is to create two states that share the land for which they have been dying for 100 years,” Borrell was quoted as saying. He added that such a solution must be “imposed from the outside.”

The Israeli government has strongly rebutted Borrell’s accusations.

“Mr. Borrell is wrong. Far from seeking to strengthen Hamas, as the EU foreign policy chief alleged, Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu hit Hamas hard in three large-scale military operations; in 2012, 2014, and 2021,” Ophir Falk, Netanyahu’s top foreign policy adviser, said in a statement. “After the October 7 massacre of over 1,000 Israelis and over 250 taken hostage, Mr. Netanyahu’s war cabinet directed the Israeli army to destroy Hamas.”