The European Union's top diplomat Josep Borrell has invited Israel's Foreign Affairs minister Eli Cohen and his Palestinian Authority counterpart Riyad Al-Maliki to an emergency meeting on Tuesday of European Foreign Affairs ministers to discuss the situation in the region.

"I have invited (the) Israeli Foreign Minister to join the meeting of EU Foreign Ministers I am convening this afternoon. I have also invited Foreign Minister Maliki to address the meeting and present the views of the Palestinian Authority," Borrell said in a post on the social media platform X, formerly known as Twitter.

EU ministers are meeting in Muscat, Oman, where a meeting of EU and Gulf Cooperation Council foreign ministers was already scheduled to take place. Some ministers will be there in person, while others will attend the meeting remotely. 

EU foreign ministers will consider the responses and next steps for the bloc, including reviewing aspects of development aid.

"The Commission is currently assessing how the recent tragic events might affect our current and our future development assistance," an EU Commission spokesperson told reporters on Monday.

"EU funding supports most essential services for the Palestinian population and contributes direct financing also to the Palestinian authority."

On Monday the EU backtracked on its announcement that aid to Palestinians had been suspended in response to the attack on Israel by Hamas after EU countries complained the bloc's executive had overstepped the mark.

The confusion began after Oliver Varhelyi, the top official for relations with the EU's neighbours, said the European Commission was putting all its development aid for Palestinians, worth $729 million, under review.

In a post on social media site X, Varhelyi – a Hungarian who is European Commissioner for Neighborhood and Enlargement – also said all payments were "immediately suspended."

Varhelyi was nominated for his post by Hungarian Prime Minister Viktor Orban, a staunch ally of Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu.

The announcement prompted consternation among multiple governments, who had warned against cutting off aid to the detriment of Palestinian civilians and questioned whether the Commission had the authority to take such a decision.

Spain, Portugal, Luxembourg and Ireland publicly voiced alarm while other countries did so behind the scenes, diplomats said.

"Our understanding is that there is no legal basis for a unilateral decision of this kind by an individual Commissioner and we do not support a suspension of aid," a spokesperson for Ireland's foreign ministry said.

More than five hours after Varhelyi's social media post, the Commission issued a statement confirming it had started an urgent aid review but also declaring that "as there were no payments foreseen, there will be no suspension of payments."

EU chief Borrell then sowed further confusion when he said the EU would not suspend "due payments" – right after the Commission had said no payments were foreseen.

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