WASHINGTON — The United States is heading an international effort to
pour hundreds of millions of dollars into the Gaza Strip to prevent a Hamas
takeover in 2006.
U.S. officials said the Bush administration has urged U.S. allies as
well as Congress to embark on a short-term plan to pump funding into the
Palestinian Authority over the next six months. The officials said the
funding would be invested primarily in jobs and social services in an
attempt to bolster the standing of the ruling Fatah movement.
The administration plans to provide up to $87 million immediately after the
Israeli withdrawal from the Gaza Strip, officials said. In the May 2005
emergency supplemental budget, the administration approved an additional
$200 million to support the Israeli withdrawal from the Gaza Strip, with
total
aid reaching $275 million for 2005, Middle East Newsline reported.
The fiscal year 2006 budget request includes $150 million for the
Palestinian people. In previous years, the United States provided the
Palestinians with $75 million annually.
At the G8 summit in Scotland in July, $3 billion was pledged for
Palestinian development until 2008. Officials said Washington was trying to
release some of the money over the next few weeks. The United States remains
the single largest donor to the Palestinians.
"It is exceedingly important," James Wolfensohn, the special envoy of
the so-called Quartet, said.
In testimony to the House Foreign Operations subcommittee on July 26,
Wolfensohn warned of a Hamas victory in expected PA elections. A former
president of the World Bank, Wolfensohn said Palestinians must be convinced
over the next few months that Hamas does not represent an alternative to the
PA, dominated by the Fatah movement.
"Otherwise, Hamas, because of its provision of social services and a
better reputation, has the opportunity of gaining political ground, which
none of us would like to see," Wolfensohn said.
Congress has been skeptical of U.S. plans to transfer cash to the Gaza
Strip. The House has won a pledge from the administration for strict
controls over any U.S. funding, including a requirement that the PA deposit
the aid in a separate bank account.
"The Palestinian Authority will repay any funds which are used in any
way not mutually agreed by the United States and the Authority," a letter by
President George Bush to House Appropriations subcommittee chairman Rep. Jim
Kolbe said on July 22.
Officials said the administration was not pressing PA Chairman Mahmoud
Abbas to honor his pledge to set a date for elections for the Palestinian
Legislative Council. They said the State Department agreed with Abbas that
the PA must first be strengthened with significant and immediate funding.
"Hamas is popular because many Palestinian people — not terrorists —
are poor, and they want better lives for themselves and their children,"
Kolbe said. "Hamas appeals to these sentiments by providing social services
like health clinics and schools, and by building a reputation that they are
less corrupt than Fatah and better at delivering services."
Hamas's threat to the PA has been greatest in the Gaza Strip, with a
population of 1.2 million and a 50 percent unemployment rate. Officials said
Hamas operates much of the social services and educational system and has
organized a massive unofficial security force.
"I am troubled that Hamas won significant victories in recent local
elections, and could easily solidify those gains in the upcoming elections
for the Palestinian Legislative Council," Kolbe said. "It is hard to see how
the United States government could have a relationship with any government
that is represented by people actively supporting terrorism."
Wolfensohn has called for the launch of a development program for the
Gaza Strip immediately upon Israel's withdrawal. This would include a crash
program of housing, employment, education and social services that "frankly
can hold people for six months at least."
"Why?" Wolfensohn asked. "Because you will have the Jewish holidays. You
will have Ramadan. You will have two elections, one of the Palestinians
and one of the Israelis, and so you're going to have to keep hope. You need
to have visible hope because at the time of the elections God knows what
will be said. It is absolutely essential that the Palestinians see that
after the withdrawal there is a difference in their lives."
