US Secretary of State Clinton
Photo: AFP
War damage in Gaza
Photo: AFP
US to pledge $300 million to Gaza
During Egypt conference Clinton says funds will be funneled through aid organizations, not Hamas
US Secretary of State Hillary Rodham Clinton on Monday will pledge about $300 million in US humanitarian aid for the war-torn Gaza Strip, plus about $600 million in assistance to the Palestinian Authority, a US Official said Sunday.
State Department spokesman Robert A. Wood told reporters traveling with Clinton Sunday that she would announce the donations at an international pledging conference at this Red Sea resort. The conference is seeking money for Gaza and the Palestinian economy.
Best-Laid Plans
State Department official says money for reconstruction of Strip will be transferred via UN; money meant to help strengthen Palestinian Authority, will not go to Hamas, official says
Obama administration officials had indicated last week that the US was preparing to pledge $900 million in assistance for Gaza, but Wood's description of the plan Sunday indicated that the only portion going directly to rebuilding Gaza was the $300 million.
Wood said that while all of the money is subject to approval by Congress, the intent is to provide about $200 million to help the Palestinian Authority shore up a budget shortfall and another $400 million to assist Palestinian institutional reforms and economic development.
Wood said some of the $400 million might wind up aiding Gaza, but he said that would depend on the Palestinian Authority.
Some portion of the $900 million total US pledge had already been budgeted for 2009, Wood said, adding that he could not immediately provide a breakdown.
Wood said the US aid that does not go directly to the Palestinian Authority would be funneled to Gaza through international organizations and agencies, and would not go through Hamas, which the US considers a terror group.
Clinton also carried hopes of helping find the beginnings of a path ahead toward an Israeli-Palestinian peace.
She arrived at Sharm el-Sheik after an overnight flight from Washington and went quickly into a meeting with the Obama administration's Middle East peace envoy, George Mitchell, who is touring the region.
Donors at the Sharm el-Sheik conference will be asked to fund a $2.8 billion reconstruction plan put together by Abbas' prime minister, Salam Fayyad.
Fayyad wants most of the money funneled through his West Bank-based government. He already administers huge sums of foreign aid, and has been sending $120 million to Gaza each month for welfare and salaries of Abbas' former civil servants.
Other aid, such as that for the rebuilding of homes, would go directly to the bank accounts of Gazans. Hamas prepared its own Gaza reconstruction plan, but it is expected to be bypassed by the donors.
