A Palestinian boy and his family join the assembly in Gaza on April 10 to protest EU's decision to suspend financial aid to the new Palestinian government. -Xinhua/Reuters

A spokesman for the Hamas-led cabinet yesterday expressed regret at the decision by foreign ministers of the 25-nation European Union to suspend financial aid to the new Palestinian government.

Ghazi Hamad told reporters that the European decision "is unjust and totally wrong, and it is just a collective punishment to the Palestinian people for their democratic choice."

He said the EU decision was made in parallel with the American and Israeli decision to isolate the newly-installed government.

Hamad also said that the Hamas-led government, which took office on March 29, was expecting the EU to support the Palestinians and condemn the killing of Palestinians by Israeli troops.

The EU decision also drew criticism from Palestinian Foreign Minister Mahmoud al-Zahar.

"It goes in harmony with the Israeli pressure on the Palestinian people," said al-Zahar.