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Plassnik. 'Hamas at crossroads'
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EU transfers emergency aid to PA

EU hands USD 78 million in urgent aid to Palestinians, says future aid depends on Hamas-led government committing to peace with Israel

The EU handed the United Nations a check Monday for USD 78 million in urgent aid for Palestinians, but warned repeatedly that future aid was at risk unless the newly formed Hamas government commits to peace with Israel.

 

The foreign ministers of the European Union - the Palestinians’ largest source of foreign aid totaling some USD 600 million a year - debated the impact of a Hamas government on future assistance, as will the 25 EU leaders at a Brussels summit later in the week.

 

“Hamas is at a crossroads,” said Austrian Foreign Minister Ursula Plassnik, whose country holds the EU presidency.

 

She said the Islamic organization - which the EU considers a terrorist group because it is sworn to destroy Israel - “will have to decide which road to take” for the sake of the well-being of the 4 million Palestinians in the Gaza Strip and West Bank.

 

British Foreign Secretary Jack Straw said after Hamas’ landslide win in January 25 parliamentary elections aid to the Palestinians would continue, but said Hamas must meet international demands.

 

“We don’t want to punish the Palestinian people for their votes at all,” Straw told reporters. “On the other hand the Palestinian people need to say to any Hamas government that democracy involves responsibilities and above all a responsibility not to get involved in violence.”

 

'Hamas must recognize Israel'

 

Separately, EU External Relations Commissioner Benita Ferrero-Waldner said the Hamas government must recognize Israel and its past accords with Palestinians, and commit to the Middle East peace process as set out by the EU, the U.N., The United States and Russia. Future European aid hinges on “the commitments the (Hamas) government enters into, and its deeds. We need to look not only at what they say, but also at what they do,” said Ferrero-Waldner.

 

She said it was “crucial how the new Palestinian Authority positions itself on the questions of violence, of recognition of Israel and standing by previous (Israeli-Palestinian) agreements.”

 

Ferrero-Waldner spoke at a ceremony at which she handed a check to Karen Abu Zayed, the deputy chief of the U.N. Relief and Works Agency that provides education, health and social and other services for Palestinians in the Gaza Strip and the West Bank.

 


פרסום ראשון: 03.20.06, 17:48
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