Norway resumes direct aid to PA with $10 million transfer

Norway resumed direct aid to the Palestinian administration with a $10 million transfer, after it became the first Western country to recognize the new Hamas-led coalition, the foreign minister said Thursday.

"We hope our contribution will help ease the social crisis the Palestinians are now going through," said

Foreign Minister Jonas Gahr Stoere. He said the aid will be used to pay wages for civilian public servants.

The United States, the European Union and others, including Norway, cut off direct aid to the Palestinian

Authority last year after a government led by the Islamic militant Hamas party, which is committed to the destruction of Israel, took office.

Lack of aid spurred a Palestinian financial crisis, disrupting health care and other government-funded programs and halting infrastructure projects.

Norway recognized a new coalition, which included Hamas and the moderate Fatah party, when it took office in March, and earlier this month announced that it would resume direct aid.

"The critical situation in Gaza has many causes, but social need and desperation draw in a negative

directions," said Stoere. "It is especially important for the Palestinian authorities to receive economic aid from the international community."

Many Western countries have refused to recognize the new government until Hamas renounces violence, recognizes Israel's right to exist and accepts previous peace agreements between the Palestinians and Israel.