Palestinians complain Arab funding never arrived: Praise Europeans

GAZA — The Palestinian Authority has complained to the Arab League that a $100 million in aid has never arrived.

PA officials said the emergency aid approved by the Arab League of is mired in red tape. They said the Palestinians cannot wait much longer for the funding amid the economic crisis in the West Bank and Gaza Strip.

The Arab League reaffirmed the $100 million in a meeting in Damascus earlier this month. The funding is part of $1 billion pledged by Arab states in October.

PA officials said Arab League members are sending food and other humanitarian aid to the PA. But their pledges of cash have not materialized.

The officials said the European Union has been much more attentive to the Palestinian economic crisis and sent its aid within days after Brussels approved the funding.

"I'm sorry to say that the warm Arab intentions to support us have been drowned in routine complex bureaucracy that is unjustified," Mohammed Sbeih, the Palestinian envoy to the Arab League, said.

PA officials have been touring Gulf states, urging Arab leaders to send their checks.

The economic crisis has sparked anti-PA demonstrations around the Gaza Strip.