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European Union leaders agree on Palestinian aid plan |
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Friday, 16 June 2006European Union leaders endorsed a plan Friday to channel aid to cash-starved Palestinians focusing on health, power supply and support for needy families, while maintaining a funding freeze on the Hamas government.
A final statement from the EU summit said the 25-member bloc "stands ready to contribute a substantial amount to the international mechanism," which would channel aid to the Palestinians but bypass Hamas.
EU spokeswoman Emma Udwin said the EU was considering an initial allocation of about US$126 million. She told reporters the EU wants to have the funding mechanism up and running by early July.
"We Europeans are determined to play our part in preventing a humanitarian crisis in the Palestinian territories," said EU External Relations Commissioner Benita Ferrero-Waldner.
She will head to Middle East on Monday to present the plan.
The EU statement said the plan was drawn up in consultation with the United States, Russia and the United Nations, who agreed with the EU in May that a mechanism had to be found to keep the Palestinian economy afloat after most international aid was cut off following Hamas' January election win.
Udwin said she expected final approval from the full Quartet group of Middle East mediators and other donors within days.
There was no mention in the statement of the payment of salaries to Palestinian government workers, which is opposed by Israel, but it did refer to "social allowances" which EU would entail payments to health workers and other needy families.
"Nobody is paying wages, forget wages," Udwin said. "There is a big difference between wage and allowance."
The fund will be managed by the World Bank and the EU working with the office of Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas whose Fatah movement is Hamas' main political rival.
EU leaders insisted there would be no contact with Hamas unless it renounces violence, recognizes Israel and respects existing peace agreements. "There can be no business as usual with a government that has not yet accepted the fundamental principle of peace," Ferrero-Waldner said.
The EU urged Israel to resume the transfer of more than US$50 million in monthly tax revenues it collects on behalf of the Palestinians. Those funds are "essential in averting a crisis in the Palestinian territories," the draft EU statement said. The EU said the revenues could be channeled through the new mechanism.
The mechanism will have three parts: one managed by the World Bank will focus on maintaining health services including "basic allowances" for doctors and nurses; the second will aim to secure essential utilities such as fuel supplies; the third will create a "social safety net" making direct bank transfers to the accounts of needy families.
"All three of these elements will operate with strict controls and in full accountability and transparency," Udwin said.
The EU draft statement urged Israel to resume peace talks with Abbas. It urged him to disarm violent groups and halt attacks on Israel.
In a message to the Israelis, the EU condemned violence against Palestinian civilians and urged a halt to "any action that threatens the viability of an agreed two-state solution and from acts that are contrary to international law." The statement referred in particular to the construction of Israel's West Bank security barrier and Jewish settlements in the area.
Referring to Israeli Prime Minister Ehud Olmert's determination to draw Israel's final borders by 2010, with or without an agreement with the Palestinians, the EU insisted it "will not recognize any change to the pre-1967 border other than those agreed by both sides."
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Friday, 16 June 2006
JPost
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