Palestinians were given a powerful signal of international and Arab support for an independent state last night, with $7,4-billion in aid to revive their moribund economy and bolster renewed but faltering peace negotiations with Israel.
Opening a grand donors conference three weeks after the Annapolis summit, Nicolas Sarkozy, the French President, underlined the urgency of creating a Palestinian state by the end of 2008 — a hugely ambitious goal given the gap between the sides, bitter internal divisions, and doubts about whether weak leaders can deliver a workable deal.
”Momentum for peace is building once again,” Sarkozy declared. ”It must not, it cannot, fail.” Tony Blair, co-chairing the Paris event for the Quartet of Middle East peace-makers, said: ”The next few months will be crucial.” It was, said US Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice, the Palestinian government’s ”last hope to avoid bankruptcy”.
Financially, the conference succeeded — the total pledged exceeded the Palestinians’ target of $5,6-billion over three years — though there was confusion on individual contributions. ”There are lots of complicated reckonings and we’ll need to double check,” admitted Bernard Kouchner, the French Foreign Minister.
There was no sign of any thaw towards Hamas, the Islamist movement controlling the Gaza Strip, home to 1,4-million Palestinians, and scant evidence of any easing of Israeli restrictions on the ground. ”Peace will not be made without Gaza,” Sarkozy told representatives from nearly 70 countries and organisations. ”And peace will not be made with groups that do not recognise Israel.”
As night fell an Israeli aircraft hit a car in Gaza City, setting off a huge blast and killing an Islamic Jihad commander and another militant, officials said; the target was Majed Harazin, in charge of rocket squads firing at Israel, the military said.
Hours later, a second Israeli strike killed three Islamic Jihad militants in the south of the city, Palestinians said, including a chief rocket maker.
Mahmoud Abbas, the Palestinian President, had earlier fiercely attacked Hamas ”putschists”, insisting they would have to face elections and respect previous peace agreements. He also urged Israel to halt settlement ”without exception” on the West Bank, asking: ”If we want to launch serious talks to end the conflict, then how can a key party pursue settlement activity and expansion?”
Rice pledged $555-million and urged others to follow suit. Saudi Arabia gave $500-million to $750-million, emphasising its increasingly active role in the search for a settlement.
The one-day meeting near the Arc de Triomphe was the biggest such since 1996 and billed as the economic counterpart to Annapolis, convened by George Bush to restart Israeli-Palestinian talks after nearly seven years of stalemate and violence.
Blair said it was about ”state-building”, not just raising cash.
Taking pains to be even-handed, he said: ”We must see the worry of ordinary Israelis when rockets are fired from Gaza … and we must understand the Palestinian perspective when ordinary decent people live under the misery and difficulty and injustice of having their territory occupied.”
Israel was ready to cooperate, insisted its Foreign Minister, Tzipi Livni. But the first round of renewed negotiations last week was overshadowed by news of the expansion of the Har Homa settlement in East Jerusalem. ”We’ll do everything to help the development and strengthening of the Palestinian Authority infrastructure, but not at the price of giving up any vital security interests,” Ehud Olmert, the Prime Minister, told his Kadima party.
Palestinians said they need Israeli withdrawals and a drastic easing of restrictions. The World Bank insisted financial aid and improved governance would make little difference if closures and checkpoints were not eased. Salam Fayyad, the Palestinian Prime Minister, said 70% of the $5,6-billion sought would go towards reducing his huge budget deficit and the remaining 30% to development projects.
In Gaza, a Hamas spokesperson dismissed the conference as ”a declaration of war”. – Guardian Unlimited Â