A Hamas leader appealed yesterday to the EU not to cut aid to a Palestinian government that might include the Islamic militant group.
"We call on you to understand the priorities of our Palestinian people at this stage and continue the spiritual and financial support in order to push the region towards stability rather than pressure and tension," Ismail Haniyeh said in Gaza.
In Israel on Sunday, German Chancellor Angela Merkel said there was no way the EU could provide direct financial support for a Palestinian government that included Hamas as long as the group refused to give up violence and acknowledge Israel's right to exist.
Hamas, which has carried out nearly 60 suicide bombings in Israel since a Palestinian uprising began in 2000, swept to victory over President Mahmoud Abbas' long-dominant Fatah faction in a parliamentary election on Wednesday.
Last year the EU gave the Palestinian Authority US$615 million, money vital for its survival.
Haniyeh, who headed Hamas' list of candidates, also appealed to the Quartet of Middle East peace brokers -- the US, the EU, the UN and Russia -- to open a dialogue with the group without preconditions.
Meanwhile, another senior Hamas official yesterday brushed aside warnings that Western aid to the Palestinians could dry up because of the militants' hard-line stand on Israel, saying the Islamic group would not bow to international pressure.
"Cutting off funds now will be a punishment of the Palestinian people, not of Hamas," said Mohammed Nazzal, member of Hamas' decision-making political bureau, which is based in Damascus, Syria.
"If the European Union countries and the American administration see this as a means that could lead to a change in Hamas' strategic position then they are dreaming and are mistaken. Hamas will never accept that," he said in an interview with al-Arabiya TV.
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