West Rallies To Aid West Bank Palestinians
The emergency government that Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas installed after Islamic militants seized control of Gaza reaped its first windfall on Monday, with the European Union promising to restore hundreds of millions of dollars in crucial aid.
Israel and the U.S. also plan to lift crippling economic sanctions on the Palestinians, now that President Mahmoud Abbas has formed an emergency government without Hamas, reports CBS News correspondent Robert Berger. Hundreds of millions of dollars will now flow to the Abbas government enabling him to pay the long overdue salaries of civil servants and police.
Meanwhile, a humanitarian crisis is looming in the Gaza Strip after last week's violent takeover by Hamas. Israel supplies most of the food and medicine to Palestinians in Gaza, but the main border crossing has been closed since the civil war erupted last week. So shortages are imminent, reports Berger. Israel is prepared to reopen the crossing to resume the flow of essential supplies, but there's no one to talk to now that Hamas controls the border.
"The real issue, I think, is what is Hamas going to do in Gaza?" asked former U.S. Mideast peace envoy Dennis Ross on CBS News' The Early Show. "I think the Israelis have no desire to go back into Gaza but they obviously have a lot of leverage on Hamas. They provide water, provide electricity."
In other developments:
The EU traditionally has been the Palestinian Authority's largest donor, and the reinstatement of aid, cut off after the Islamic Hamas movement took power 15 months ago, could signal the beginning of the end to a crippling international boycott.
On Sunday, Abbas hurriedly swore in the new Cabinet, days after dissolving the unity government in response to the Islamic group's violent takeover of the Gaza Strip.
The rift has left the Palestinians with two rival governments — a Fatah-allied government in the West Bank and the Hamas leadership in Gaza. Abbas seeks peace with Israel, whereas Hamas is sworn to the Jewish state's destruction.
"Hamas has no excuse now. It's the sole party responsible. It can't blame it on Fatah, the Israelis; they govern Gaza right now," Ross told Early Show co-anchor Hannah Storm. "If Gaza deteriorates, if there is extraordinary impoverishment, if there's no prospect of anything improving, one could see Hamas basically try to divert attention away from their own failings by starting something with Israel."
Underscoring the convoluted political solution, the dueling Palestinian Cabinets were holding separate meetings in the West Bank and Gaza on Monday. The dispute has endangered the Palestinians' goal of forming an independent state in the two territories, which are located on opposite sides of Israel.
The West Bank could eventually become affiliated with Jordan, said Ross, but Gaza could remain a problem.
"If you have an Islamist enclave in Gaza, does it become a sanctuary for every radical Islamist worldwide? Does that become a base for spreading terror not only toward Israel but toward Egypt and the region?" he asked.
The international community has largely rallied behind Abbas government, led by Prime Minister Salam Fayyad, an internationally respected economist.
In a major boost to Abbas, EU foreign policy chief Javier Solana announced in Luxembourg on Monday that the 27-nation bloc would resume direct financial aid to the Palestinian Authority now that Hamas is no longer part of the government.
"We absolutely have to back" the new government in the West Bank, said Luxembourg Foreign Minister Jean Asselborn. "The question of today is: How can we help the 1.4 million people in Gaza?"
Riyad al-Malki, the new Palestinian minister of information and justice, welcomed the announcement.
"There are encouraging steps. We hope that these steps will be carried out quickly," he said.
Both the Haniyeh and Fayyad governments profess to represent Palestinians in both the West Bank and Gaza. To drive home that point, al-Malki said the EU aid also would go to pay salaries for government employees in Gaza.
"We will work to secure all basic needs for our people in Gaza," he said before the Cabinet meeting in the West Bank town of Ramallah.
Israel collects some $55 million a month in customs duties on behalf of the Palestinians, but has withheld the funds since Hamas took power.
The stark division between Gaza and the West Bank since Hamas' lightning takeover of Gaza has raised grave questions about the ability to stave off a humanitarian crisis in Gaza. Both Israel and Egypt have sealed off the area's borders.
In Gaza, panicked residents continued to stock up on basic supplies, fearing growing shortages of food, fuel and other staples.
Some of those fears were alleviated after the sole provider of gasoline to Gaza, Israeli company Dor Alon, renewed shipments cut off last week during the heavy fighting.
Israeli Foreign Ministry spokesman Mark Regev said Israel was aware of the humanitarian dangers facing the Gaza Strip. But he said Israel had not yet figured out a way to deal with the Hamas rulers of Gaza.
Both Israel and the United States already have said they would work to bolster Abbas, while isolating Hamas. The U.S., EU and Israel consider Hamas, which has killed hundreds of Israelis in suicide bombings, a terrorist group.
In New York, Israeli Prime Minister Ehud Olmert said Sunday that his country would be a "genuine partner" of the new Palestinian government and promised to consider releasing hundreds of millions of dollars in frozen tax funds.
And the top U.S. diplomat in Jerusalem, Jacob Walles, said Sunday that Washington would fully support Abbas' new government and resume aid.