WASHINGTON, 19 February 2006 — The United States has asked the Palestinian Authority to return $50 million in US aid because Washington does not want Hamas government to have the funds, the State Department said Friday.
US Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice, who visits the region next week, will ask Arab allies to demand that an incoming Hamas government abandon terrorism and accept Israel, she said Friday. The US wants the Palestinian authority to return $50 million in direct assistance provided in 2005 for new infrastructure projects in Gaza. A Palestinian official confirmed Washington had asked for $50 million in aid to be returned. “The Palestinian Authority promised to comply,” the official said.
Over the past decade, the United States has given about $1.5 billion in aid to the Palestinians, mostly through aid groups.
Rice plans to visit Saudi Arabia, Egypt and the United Arab Emirates next week to discuss, among other issues, how to deal with Hamas and to convince those nations not to fill any funding gap.
Also Friday, Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas gave his inauguration speech during the first meeting of the parliament after the Jan. 25 elections assigned Hamas to form the government. After representatives took oath, Abbas sent messages to both Israel and Hamas, asking both sides to continue negotiations, The US-backed Road Map should be a guide for peace talks, Abbas said. Hamas rejected the call by Abbas to negotiate with Israel yesterday. Hamas spokesman Sami Abu Zuhri said the group will not talk with Israel since the occupation still exists, adding that the armed resistance is the legal right of the Palestinian people.
Hamas was responding to Israel’s declaration on Friday that it will impose sanctions immediately against the Hamas-controlled Authority, including barring Gaza Palestinians from working in Israel.
Unilateral steps by Israel “will lead to more deterioration and further distance peace and settlement,” Abbas said in his speech and argued that the electoral choice of Hamas “shouldn’t be an excuse or justification for more aggression or a blackmailing of our people.” Although Israel evacuated the Gaza Strip last September, it still retains control over most of the West Bank and collects about $53 million a month in taxes for the Authority.
Israel makes the money from the fees it charges the Gaza and West Bank for water, electricity and sea and air links. Cuts in funding would worsen the dire financial straits faced by the Palestinian Authority, which gets about $1 billion yearly in foreign aid from various sources, a sum that is equal to nearly half its budget. For several months, the Palestinian government has been unable to meet its $116-million monthly payroll. But shutting off US aid is more complicated than just turning off a faucet, and has some limitations as a carrot or stick of American policy. One reason is that most US assistance never goes directly to the Palestinian Authority.
Direct aid to the Palestinian Authority was barred by US law in 1997 to safeguard against it being diverted by corrupt leaders. Instead, with rare exceptions, American aid is provided indirectly through contractors and nonprofit groups that carry out a variety of projects, from building sewers and roads to mentoring Palestinian youths and fostering democratic institutions.
