There’s a Fatah-Hamas unity government on the horizon. Failing that, a formal Hamas political takeover – and the war it portends – is a near certainty no later than January 2009. So naturally:
The United States signed an agreement on Wednesday to give 150 million dollars to Palestinian Authority President Mahmoud Abbas’s West Bank government, Agence France Presse reported. The funds are the first installment of 555 million dollars pledged by Western countries at a donors’ conference in Paris late last year intended to strengthen the Palestinian Authority and underpin recently revived peace talks. The money will go directly to the government’s budget to help fill a massive fiscal shortfall left in the wake of a seven-year uprising.
Because what you want to do is defray the cost of the Palestinian decision to turn down peace and embrace violence. That way they won’t have an incentive to do it again. And in totally unrelated news, Palestinian soldiers in the Gaza Strip again threatened the shaky ceasefire by firing a rocket at Israeli schools and hospitals.
References:
* Abbas To Lead Fatah-Hamas Unity Govt Through 2010 (Plus: Zero Agreement On Any Peace Process Issue) [MR]
* Will Hamas-Israel truce come to an end in January? [Ha'aretz]
* Israel About To Free All Prisoners On Hamas Prisoner List? (Plus: No, This Isn’t Why Hamas Is Going To Take Over The West Bank) [MR]
* PA receives $150 million from US [JPost]
* Gaza terrorists fire Kassam at Israel [JPost]
Previously:
* Fatah And Hamas Hugging, Making Up, Releasing Each Others’ Prisoners
* Abbas Working Overtime To Reconcile With Hamas, Coordinate With Syria
* State Dept. More Enthusiastic Than Ever About Coercing Israeli Concessions, Arming Palestinian Soldiers (Plus: Editor-in-Chief Of Int’l Arabic Daily: Gaza Is Another Afghanistan)
