The decision came after Israel and the US both publicly backed the new emergency cabinet, set up after Hamas seized control of the Gaza Strip.
Israel says it will release tax revenues frozen since Hamas won elections in January 2006.
Palestinian leader Mahmoud Abbas has spoken to US President George W Bush, urging him to push for new peace talks.
Mr Bush called the Palestinian Authority president to offer his support for the new government, said Mr Abbas's office.
Mr Abbas reportedly told the US leader that without Hamas in government, the time was now right for a new peace effort.
Israeli leaders offered strong public support for Mr Abbas' new government.
Speaking in New York, Prime Minister Ehud Olmert said he would consider the new Palestinian government as a "genuine partner".
The EU and US imposed an embargo on the previous government after Hamas won a surprise election victory 18 months ago.
Speaking in Luxembourg, Mr Solana said the EU would be prepared to make some direct payments to the government of the new Palestinian Prime Minister, Salam Fayyad, in the future.
Maybe now things will begin to move in the right direction. I understand fully the hesitation to provide foreign aid to violent groups, but I think it is important to remember that with such a significant amount of the PA's operating budget coming from foreign aid, the suspension of such aid means that trash goes uncollected, schools close, hospitals run short on supplies, police officers go without pay, and everything deteriorates even further. And when the state doesn't provide those goods and services, who steps in to fill the void--groups like Hamas and Hezbolla. The worse things get the more support extremists receive.
1 comment:
Well, I personally support the policy up to this point whol heartedly. The whole point of having a carrot and a stick is that you're prepared to use either to get the results needed. :)
I was actually going to post a similar article yesterday, but was distracted by Father's Day affairs. The story was essentially that the US, too, is planning to resume direct aid to the PA as soon as Abbas establishes his emergency government.
The intent here, I believe, is that Abbas and Fatah will return some level of normalcy to the PA and the West Bank... and I imagine the early elections will likely not favor Hamas.
Now, the question here is: What about Gaza? Hamas is pretty much in firm control there, and is likely to behave as its own pseudo-state, making its own policy decisions independent of the formalized PA. So what now?
I think the proper course of action will be to throw as much support behind Abbas and the West Bank as possible; we need to invest in proper economic growth, and make serious progress towards establishing the Palestinian state, and pronto. If that can be done, I think (hope) Gaza will flip on its own.
The elephant in the room, however, is the very existance of these armed militias. Somehow, these need to be dissolved and integrated into a larger, united PA security force. Otherwise we're almost certain to see another flair up of sectarian violence in the future. But as long as Hamas exists, Fatah NEEDS to be there to act as a counter balance. So what to do?
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