Hamas gets nothing

The PNA in the West Bank and the Hamas-run government in Gaza have each insisted on leading the rebuilding effort, but Western countries, which consider Hamas as a terror group, have said they can only work with Abbas.

A Palestinian child sits by house rubbles at Jabalia refugee camp in the northern Gaza Strip March 2, 2009. An international donor's conference was held on Monday in Egypt in an effort to raise funds for the rebuilding of the Gaza Strip battered by Israel's 22-day military attacks. [Xinhua]

Hillary Clinton has pledged at the conference that the United States will donate 900 million dollars for the Palestinians to shore up the PNA and help rebuild Gaza, but stressed that no funds will go to Hamas.

Among the total U.S. funding, only a third, or 300 million dollars, is earmarked for the reconstruction of Gaza, which will be channelled via the United Nations and other organizations, U.S. State Department spokesman Robert Wood said earlier, while stressing that "Hamas is not getting any of this money."

Some 200 million dollars will be provided to help cover the PNA budget shortfalls and another 400 million dollars is offered to assist Palestinian economic and institutional reforms, according to the spokesman.

Abbas also said last Saturday that the international aid has to go through the PNA in coordination with international organizations.

"We expect quick international aid from all parties to completely rebuild the Gaza Strip," Abbas told reporters following a meeting with Javier Solana, adding he also expects that the PNA as in the past will be the only mechanism in accepting aid for Gaza.

Solana also said the European Commission "insists in agreement with the president (Abbas) that the mechanism used to deploy the money is the one that represents the Palestinian (National) Authority," adding "I don't think there is a need for new mechanisms."

The European Commission announced last Friday that it will pledge 436 million euros (566 million dollars) in aid to the Palestinians at the international donors' conference.

Among other nations, Saudi Arabia has pledged 1 billion dollars for the Palestinians, while Qatar pledged 250 million dollars and Algeria 100 million dollars.

The Gulf Cooperation Council (GCC) announced on Sunday to donate nearly 1.65 billion dollars at Monday's conference to ease Gaza's humanitarian situation and help its social and economic reconstruction.

Hamas, not invited to the Sharm el-Sheikh meeting, has slammed taking his movement away from joining the Gaza reconstruction conference.

Yehia Musa, a Gaza Hamas lawmaker, said on Monday in a statement that "Gaza reconstruction conference is a continuation of the criminal war series on Gaza. It aims at achieving the political goals that the war on Gaza failed to achieve."

Hamas routed Fatah-dominated security forces loyal to Abbas to seize the Gaza Strip in June 2007, one year after it won parliamentary elections. Abbas then sacked the Palestinian unity government led by Hamas and set up a Western-backed government in the occupied West Bank.

The schism between Hamas and Fatah has enervated efforts to strike a peace deal with Israel to establish a Palestinian statehood and poses a major obstacle to Western-funded reconstruction in the Gaza Strip following Israel's massive offensive against Hamas.