GAZA CITY — Palestinian Authority Prime Minister Ismail Haniya said
the United States has blocked hundreds of millions of dollars in foreign aid
to the Hamas-led government.
Haniya said the Cabinet has collected sufficient funds to pay PA
salaries over the last two months, Middle East Newsline reported. But he said the funds have been stuck in
banks located in Arab and Islamic states.
"We have no problem in collecting money, but the problem lies in the
obstacles and pressures that the United States is imposing on countries and
banks to stop the transfer of money to the Palestinian government," Haniya
said.
Haniya told a news conference on Wednesday that the Hamas-led government
has obtained commitments of between $150 and $200 million per month for the
PA. He cited an April tour of Arab and Islamic states by PA Foreign Minister
Mahmoud Zahar.
But Haniya said the United States has warned these states not to
transfer money to the PA. He said Arab and Islamic banks feared U.S.
economic sanctions. In April, the U.S. Treasury Department banned most
financial dealings with the PA.
"Our call from the heart of Palestine is to the Arab League and to Arab
leaders to intervene to end this suffering and to end the American
intervention," Haniya said.
The PA, amid a funding cutoff by the United States and European Union,
has been unable to pay salaries to what officials said was 160,000
government employees. Nearly half of them were members of the police and
security forces, the lion's share of them members of the Fatah movement, the
chief rival of Hamas.
Haniya has been under pressure from Arab allies of the United States to
negotiate with Israel and reduce insurgency strikes from the Gaza Strip. As
a result, the prime minister has urged insurgency groups to avoid targeting
the Gaza cargo and passenger terminals along the borders with Egypt and
Israel.
"I stress the need to protect the vital interests of the Palestinian
people, including the crossings that represent the veins and the lungs of
the Palestinian people," Haniya said.
