EU Says It Will Help Palestinians
June 8, 2006
The EU is considering aid worth $42 million (34 million euros) per month for Palestinians that would pay some workers directly and bypass the Hamas government.
The proposal, as reported by Reuters, still needs approval by the Quartet of Middle East mediators -- the United States, Russia, the European Union and the United Nations.
Foreign policy chief Javier Solana said this week that the EU would not abandon the Palestinians and hoped that the special aid fund would be in place by early next month.
"The Palestinian people can be assured that the EU will not let them down and we will continue to support them as much as we can," Solana told a joint news conference with Palestinian Authority President Mahmoud Abbas in the West Bank town of Ramallah. "The amount of money which will be spent in the year 2006 will be more than that spent in 2005."
Avoiding financial meltdown
The European Union -- the biggest aid donor to the Palestinians -- and the United States both suspended funding after militant Islamic group Hamas won January elections, while Israel has also blocked the transfer of revenues. That is because Hamas has refused to recognize Israel, renounce violence or honor the peace agreements.
To avoid Palestinian financial meltdown, however, the EU, Russia, UN and US are working on setting up a World Bank fund to channel money to Palestinians without it passing through the Hamas-led government.
"We are working on a mechanism to put the money in a context of humanitarian aid in broader context and to get as many donors in the same mechanism," Solana said, hoping that the matter would be finalized quickly.
After Hamas took over in March, it has been unable to cover salaries for civil servants sparking riots and fears of a civil war.
Opposition to the plan
EU officials said that approval is still dependent on Washington which is opposing directly paying Palestinian salaries because it takes pressure off Hamas.
Instead, the plan calls for about $30 million in "social allowances" which would cover about a quarter of the Palestinian Authority's monthly wage expenditures.
According to the plan, donors would transfer money into bank accounts under Abbas' office that would flow directly to beneficiaries. And audits would ensure that money did not get diverted to Hamas. Also $6 million would be set aside for health services and fuel.