Secretary General of the Arab League Amer Mousa pledged $50 Million US dollars to the cash-strapped Palestinian Authority during a joint press conference in Cairo Tuesday with Nabil Shaath, aide to Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas. The financial aid will be transferred Monday and will be controlled by the Palestinian President’s office.
“Fifty million dollars have been transferred to the Palestinian Authority in full coordination with the Palestinian government,” Mr Mussa said.
The funds, transferred to the account of the Palestinian president, are “the first Arab payments to reach the territories since the Israeli siege,” Shaath said, adding that the Arab League had already sent $15 million to Palestinian refugees in and to employees and diplomats in Palestinian embassies.
also provided USD 50 million to the Palestinians on the West Bank and Gaza Strip, Shaath said at the league’s headquarters in Cairo.
This aid will be the first funding since international aid was cut off after the landslide victory of the Hamas movement in the legislative elections last January. The banks in region did not transfer any funds to the Palestinian territories out of fear of being labeled as supporting "a terrorist government" by the and EU governments.
The and the European Union cut off aid to the Palestinian Hamas–led government and will not lift the ban until Hamas recognizes , denounce violence, and comply with all signed agreements between and the Palestinian Authority.
decided to freeze the payment of millions of dollars collected from the Palestinians on the exports through the Israeli ports.
As a result of the aid freeze, more than 165 thousand Palestinian government workers did not receive paychecks for five months.
The European Union had earlier endorsed a proposal that would have given 100-million Euro (USD 126-million) for health, infrastructure and fuel to help curb a growing humanitarian crisis in the region.
Some Hamas leaders said the EU decision was a positive step but fell short of the direct engagement with the Palestinian government that the movement sought.
Palestinians living on the Gaza Strip have been struggling with shortages of food and fuel under an Israeli offensive against the territory aimed at securing the release of an Israeli soldier held by Palestinian resistance fighters since June 25..
