U.S. President Joe Biden’s administration is looking to “prop up the Palestinian Authority” following warnings by its officials saying it will run out of funds in February, the Wall Street Journal reported on Sunday. By doing so the U.S. endeavors to allow the PA to “govern Gaza when Israel’s war with Hamas is over,” according to the paper.
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According to the officials, the U.S. government was trying to bypass the law that prevents it from directly donating to the Palestinian Authority. Americans fear that without economic aid, the PA won’t be strong enough to maintain its current position - or be able to govern Gaza.
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U.S. President Joe Binden, Palestinian Authority President Mahmoud Abbas
(Photo: Reuters)
Sources told the paper that should the PA’s fund run out, “it will be vulnerable to groups viewed by the U.S. and Israel as more extremist and opposed to compromise.” According to the officials, this could also lead to further deterioration in the security situation in the West Bank.
According to the report, Palestinian officials said the PA has been suffering financially since 2020, and the Palestinian finance ministry has been working with a “most restrictive budget, which is the worst-case scenario, paying a portion of public servants and trying to pay portions of previous debt.”
The U.S. halted its financial aid to the PA back in 2018 following its practice of giving out financial aid to Palestinian terrorists and their relatives. In the same year, former president Donald Trump instructed the U.S. State Department to withdraw $200 from aid intended for the West Bank and Gaza following a review of its assistance to the PA.
According to the report, certain U.S. lawmakers pointed out to the UN and other international bodies as possible ways to circumvent the restrictions placed. Officials also added an additional boost from allied countries in the EU would also be unlikely.
“The EU is already doing an awful lot, but I don’t see that we are about to increase our support financially,” EU Special Representative for the Middle East Peace Process Sven Koopmans said.
Koopmans added that the PA is “an essential partner and we have to stand by them and we also encourage them very much to reform and we are helping them on that. If the PA collapses for any reason, it is a catastrophe for the security situation, for the Palestinians, for the Israelis and for the wider region.”