LONDON — The G8 industrial states plan to donate $3 billion to the
Palestinian Authority by 2009.
The G8 said the funding would ensure development of a planned
Palestinian state. The aid was expected to begin in late 2005.
"The G-8 agreed on a substantial package of help for the Palestinian
Authority, amounting to up to three billion U.S. dollars for the years to
come so that two states, Israel and Palestine, two peoples and two religions
can live side by side in peace," British Prime Minister Tony Blair said on
July 8.
Blair, speaking at the conclusion of the G8 summit in Gleneagles,
Scotland, said the money would arrive to the PA "in years to come." He did
not specify, but a G8 statement said the aid would be delivered over the
next three years.
James Wolfensohn, the Quartet's Special Envoy for Disengagement, said
the international aid would begin to reach the PA within six months. During
a visit to the Gaza Strip on Saturday, Wolfensohn said the money would help
develop the Gaza Strip immediately after Israel's withdrawal in August 2005.
"We are looking very carefully at tangible evidence that will be shown
to the Palestinian people a day after the withdrawal," Wolfensohn said.
"We're talking about programs which will be implemented immediately."
The G8 statement welcomed Israel's planned withdrawal from the Gaza
Strip and northern West Bank and called for a freeze on Israeli construction
in the West Bank. The statement urged the international community and
investors to help develop the PA.
"We support Mr Wolfensohn's intention to stimulate a global financial
contribution of up to $3 billion per year over the coming three years," the
statement said. "Domestic and international investors should be full
partners to this process."
