| Below are 3 reports from different news services about the Palestinians receiving money from the West, from Arab states and through smuggling. |
| - Abby |
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GAZA CITY, Gaza Strip (AP)--Despite a boycott of the Hamas-led Palestinian government, the European Union has found ways to increase its total aid to the Palestinian people, most recently helping support thousands of needy families, an EU official said Tuesday.
The EU said its contribution to the Palestinians has increased by 27% from last year, to EUR651 million, though the EU, U.S. and Israel have banned direct aid to the Palestinian government.
One tool is a temporary funding mechanism that funnels money directly to the people and projects, bypassing the government. The EU and its member states have contributed EUR200 million to the temporary mechanism, administered by the World Bank.
The "Quartet" of Mideast mediators - the EU, U.S., Russia and United Nations - set up the temporary funding procedure in July, as economic hardships from the aid cutoff hit ordinary Palestinians because of their choice of a Hamas-led government.
The EU, U.S. and Israel list Hamas as a terror organization. The Islamic militant group swept a parliamentary election and took office in March, triggering the Western aid cutoff. Also, Israel suspended about $55 million in monthly transfers of taxes collected for the Palestinians.
Since then, however, Western governments and aid groups have found ways to get money to the people. Some funds are directed to the office of moderate President Mahmoud Abbas.
Mario Mariani, director of the temporary funding program, said the temporary funding mechanism is up for renewal in December. The latest payout was 1,000 shekels ($246) to the families who used to receive benefits from the now bankrupt Palestinian Ministry of Social Affairs, including widows, orphans and the handicapped.
The EU is the biggest donor to the Palestinians, providing around EUR500 million a year. Most of that is channeled through U.N. assistance programs and NGO projects, but EUR70 million from the EU's common budget last year was placed in a World Bank trust fund for direct payments to help the Palestinian Authority cover its day-to-day costs.
At the same time, Hamas officials say contributions from Arab nations are increasing, easing hardships that have resulted from the government's inability to pay its 165,000 employees, triggering strikes.
Samir Abu Eisheh, the acting finance minister, said about $400 million were collected from Arab countries - 90% from Arab governments. Most of it went for salaries and ministry budgets, he said.
(END) Dow Jones Newswires
12-05-061452ET
Copyright (c) 2006 Dow Jones & Company, Inc.
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Qatar 'to pay Palestinian wages'
Qatar has agreed to pay the salaries of 40,000 Palestinian education workers for several months, Palestinian Prime Minister Ismail Haniya has said.
Mr Haniya said the amount would total more than $22m (£11.1m) a month.
The Hamas-led Palestinian government has been struggling to pay its workforce since March when Western donors suspended direct aid.
They want Hamas to renounce violence and to recognise Israel. Hamas has rejected the demands.
The US and the European Union regard Hamas as a terrorist organisation.
| | FOREIGN AID April 2006 - September 2006: $420m April 2005 - September 2005: $230m Source: IMF |
The Israeli authorities have also been withholding tens of millions of dollars in tax revenues they collect for the Palestinian government.
Palestinian teachers in the West Bank and Gaza Strip returned to work last month after ending a two-month strike over unpaid wages.
Mr Haniya made the announcement in the Qatari capital, Doha.
He said Qatar was also studying giving an additional $7m per month to the Palestinian health sector.
Qatar has not commented.
Aid increase?
Foreign aid - despite the economic boycott - has still been reaching both the Palestinian Authority and the Palestinians.
In September, the International Monetary Fund (IMF) said more foreign aid had been received by the PA over six months - April to September 2006 - than in the same period last year.
The bulk of this aid came from Arab donors - even though most of the money did not go directly to the Hamas-led administration.
Donors deposited the funds in the bank account of the Palestinian Authority President Mahmoud Abbas.
Mr Abbas is the head of the Fatah organisation, which recognises Israel, and is not subject to the economic boycott.
Hamas smuggled $66m. in 8 months
http://www.jpost.com/servlet/Satellite?cid=1164881833834&pagename=JPost%2FJPArticle%2FShowFull
| Khaled Abu Toameh, THE JERUSALEM POST | Dec. 6, 2006 |
Hamas officials have managed to smuggle more than $66 million in cash through the Rafah border crossing in the past eight months, a member of the Hamas-led Palestinian Authority government said Wednesday.
PA Planning Minister Samir Abu Aisheh of Hamas said the cash brought in from Egypt by Hamas officials was handed over to the PA Finance Ministry. He also said the Hamas-led government has managed to pay the PA's 160,000 civil servants 69 percent of their salaries due during the last eight months.
The Palestinians have received a total of $318m. in international aid since Hamas took over in March despite international sanctions imposed on the PA, Abu Aisheh said, noting that most of the money was channeled through the office of PA Chairman Mahmoud Abbas.
This is the first time that a senior Hamas official has disclosed the total sum of money - $66m. - that has been smuggled into the Gaza Strip through the Rafah crossing. Several Hamas ministers, legislators and officials have managed to smuggle suitcases full of millions of dollars through the border crossing.
The most recent instance occurred last week, when PA Foreign Minister Mahmoud Zahar returned from a 14-day tour of Arab and Islamic countries carrying $20m. in cash. A week earlier, two Hamas legislators arrived at the Rafah border crossing carrying $2m. in cash each.
In another development, Abbas appears to have retracted his threat to dismiss the PA government and call early elections. Days after he announced that the talks with Hamas had reached a dead end, Abbas sent a message to Hamas expressing his desire to pursue efforts to establish a new coalition.
PA Deputy Prime Minister Nasser Eddin Shaer of Hamas said Wednesday that Abbas's message was relayed to Hamas through the director of the PA chairman's bureau, Rafik Husseini.
Shaer said Hamas was prepared to resume the talks with Abbas from the point where they stopped. "We don't want to go back to square one," he said. "We want to move forward with the talks, not 10 steps backward. All what's left now is to name the members of the new cabinet."
Aid to Palestinians increased in 2006
