Live Update
From the Liveblog of
Friday, January 19, 2024
EU foreign policy chief: Israel ‘financed’ Hamas in bid to weaken PA

Josep Borrell, High Representative of the European Union for Foreign Affairs and Security Policy, speaks at a joint press conference with Lebanon's foreign minister following their meeting in Beirut on January 6, 2024. (Anwar Amro/AFP)
The European Union’s foreign policy chief Josep Borrell says the State of Israel financed the Hamas terror group in a bid to weaken the Palestinian Authority.
Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu has denied accusations by his opponents in Israel and some global media that his government spent years actively boosting Hamas in Gaza.
“Yes, Hamas was financed by the government of Israel in an attempt to weaken the Palestinian Authority led by Fatah,” Borrell says in a speech at the University of Valladolid, without elaborating further on such alleged financing.