The European Union will sign a deal on Monday with the United Nations granting
â,¬64-million ($78-million) in urgent aid for the Palestinians, but much more in future funding is under threat after the formation of a government by Hamas, a group the Europeans consider a terrorist group.
The EU foreign ministers will debate the impact of a Hamas government, as will the 25 EU leaders at a Brussels summit later in the week.
On Sunday, a European diplomat said the EU will work with Hamas, but added, ”Those putting together the new government must know that how they decide their government programme will have repercussions.”
”We’ll look at what [Hamas] adopts as its programme, what it says about key issues” such as recognising Israel and Middle East peace, said the official, who asked not to be named given the sensitive nature of the EU-Palestinian relations.
EU External Relations Commissioner Benita Ferrero-Waldner signs the emergency aid deal at a ceremony with the UN Relief and Works Agency which provides education, health, social and other services for Palestinians in the Gaza Strip and the West Bank.
The aid — half of a one-off, emergency package agreed last month — is meant to prevent the collapse of the destitute Palestinian Authority after Israel cut off about $50-million a month in tax money it collects for the Palestinians.
The ceremony will show the EU’s readiness to continue to support the three million West Bank and Gaza Strip Palestinians. It will also serve notice to Hamas that it risks future aid unless it renounces violence, recognises Israel and accepts all previous
accords between Israel and the Palestinians.
Israel has said it will not deal with a government that incorporates the militant group which has failed to draw moderate Palestinian factions into the next government. Since Hamas’ January 25 election victory, Israel has cut off $50-million in tax money it collects for the Palestinians each month.
The emergence of an Islamic Hamas government may jeopardise up to 80% of the EU’s â,¬500-million ($609-million) annual aid for Palestinians once they are led by a group that is sworn to destroy Israel, EU officials say.
Since Hamas’ election win, the EU has let the fate of its largest foreign aid programme hinge on Hamas’ willingness to disarm, recognise Israel and commit to peace and considered continuing assistance by circumventing Hamas after it assumes power. That is seen as unrealistic.
”Most forms of external support require interaction with the Palestinian administration,” Javier Solana, the EU security affairs chief, and Ferrero-Waldner, said in a recent report.
It said dismal security in the Gaza Strip after Israel’s withdrawal, makes it ”impossible to operate there without dealing directly with the Palestinian administration”.
The EU has threatened to cut off aid to a Hamas-led government unless it commits to peace. Such a decision could affect up to 80% of assistance for the three million Gaza Strip and West Bank Palestinians, sparing only basic humanitarian help that accounts for 20% of all aid from the EU and its 25 member states. – Sapa-AP