U.S., Europe To Restore Aid To Palestinians

America and Europe are restoring direct financial aid to the Palestinian Authority to support the emergency government set up by President Abbas of Fatah after a violent takeover of the Gaza Strip by the Hamas movement.After Mr. Abbas’s security services lost control of Gaza, Mr. Abbas booted Hamas out of a coalition government and appointed a new Cabinet, including Salam Fayyad, an economist, as prime minister.America and the European Union imposed aid limits after last year’s parliamentary election victory by Hamas, which refuses to recognize Israel and which the American government and the European Union regard as a terrorist organization.The fast-moving developments have interrupted Secretary of State Rice’s bid to make progress on the Israeli-Palestinian Arab peace talks. Mr. Abbas now controls only the West Bank, leaving the Palestinian Arabs bifurcated politically and geographically.Ms. Rice, in announcing yesterday the resumption of aid to Mr. Abbas’s government, said America rejects the division of the “Palestinian nation” represented by the Gaza takeover. “It is the position of the U.S. that there is one Palestinian people and there should be one Palestinian state,” she said.Any division that leaves Gaza as a Hamas-run enclave may amplify security problems including a resumption of rockets fired into Israel, triggering more Israeli-Palestinian Arab fighting.Most of the $1.8 billion in American assistance to the Palestinian Arabs since the 1993 Oslo peace accords was channeled through nongovernmental organizations. In recent years, the U.S. has approved sporadic, direct payments to the Palestinian Authority to help pay bills and for infrastructure projects.Ms. Rice said the U.S. now plans to distribute $86 million allocated for assistance to Mr. Abbas’s security forces.The request had been controversial with some U.S. lawmakers who expressed concern that the money could fall into the hands of Hamas while it was still a partner in Mr. Abbas’s government.

U.S., Europe To Restore Aid To Palestinians

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