News
Thursday, June 10, 2010
US unveils $400 million Palestinian aid package* Barack Obama says humanitarian crisis in Gaza strip ‘unsustainable’, a Palestinian state is the only long-term solution
WASHINGTON: US President Barack Obama on Wednesday announced a $400 million aid package for the West Bank and Gaza, saying it demonstrated America’s commitment to improving the lives of Palestinians.
“We think it’s important for us to reaffirm once again our commitment to improve the day-to-day lives of Palestinians,” Obama said after meeting with Palestinian President Mahmud Abbas at the White House.
Warning: Obama described the situation in the Gaza Strip, mired in a humanitarian crisis and under an Israeli blockade, as “unsustainable”, adding that he still believed “significant progress” towards Middle East peace was possible this year. But the president warned that a Palestinian state was the only long-term solution.
The White House said the latest aid package would go to both the West Bank and Gaza, and would “help increase access to clean drinking water, create jobs, build schools, expand the availability of affordable housing and address critical health and infrastructure needs”.
The money would be largely be funnelled through the US Agency for International Development and the United Nations Relief Works Agency, which deals with Palestinian refugees.
The US avoids dealing with Gaza’s ruling Hamas, which it has deemed a terrorist organisation, and has worked to shore up the West Bank government of Prime Minister Salam Fayyad, even attributing the new aid to his efforts.
“These initiatives result directly from the advocacy and guidance of President Mahmud Abbas and Prime Minister Salam Fayyad, whose leadership is making a difference for the Palestinian people, in Gaza as well as the West Bank,” the White House said.
The largest portion of the funds, $240 million, would be used to help increase home-ownership in the West Bank, but dedicated funding is also allocated for construction of UN schools and the repair of medical and other infrastructure in Gaza.
Senior Palestinian negotiator Saeb Erakat told AFP that Abbas specifically “requested funding for vital projects for the Gaza Strip in the area of health, water, schools and infrastructure”.
At the White House, the Palestinian president drew attention to the Israeli blockade of the Gaza Strip, saying there was “a need to lift the Israeli siege of the Palestinian people and open all the borders”. afp
Courtesy www.dailytimes.com.pk