Hamas doesn't represent 'legitimate aspirations' of Palestinians, say US, UK and allies on Israel war

The leaders condemned the act of terrorism and said, "We make clear that the terrorist actions of Hamas have no justification, no legitimacy, and must be universally condemned. There is never any justification for terrorism."

Meanwhile, the European Union late Monday reversed an earlier announcement by an EU commissioner that the bloc was “immediately” suspending development aid for Palestinian authorities. The EU later said it would urgently review such assistance in the wake of the attacks on Israel by Hamas to make sure no money was misused.

"There will be no suspension of payments" at the moment, a terse European Commission statement was quoted by the Associated press as saying late Monday. This happened five hours after EU Commissioner Oliver Varhelyi had said that all payments from the development program for Palestinians would be “immediately suspended. All projects put under review. All new budget proposals … postponed until further notice.”

The EU said it’s the biggest donor to the Palestinian people and has been advocating for years for the two-state approach that has guided international diplomacy since the 1993 Oslo peace accords between Israel and the Palestine Liberation Organization.

Since Saturday, support of the 27-nation bloc for Israel had been steadfast, including that the country had now every right within international law to defend itself in the war with Hamas.

Israel witnessed a surprise and unprecedented attack by Hamas, which rules the Gaza Strip, in its southern parts on Saturday morning. Israel then declared a "state of war" against Hamas. The death toll from Hamas' attack on southern Israel rose to more than 900, local Israeli media reported. Meanwhile, the Israeli attacks on the Gaza Strip have killed 687 Palestinians and injured 3,726 others, according to the latest update by the Palestinian Health Ministry on Monday.