Israeli restrictions on movement in the West Bank and Gaza could neutralize increased aid to the Palestinians, aid groups warned, but the Palestinian prime minister said he failed to win a pledge from Israel to ease the measures.
Israeli roadblocks in the West Bank and a virtual quarantine of Gaza were on the table on Thursday when Palestinian Prime Minister Salam Fayyad met Israeli Defense Minister Ehud Barak.
Israel maintains dozens of checkpoints and roadblocks in the West Bank, saying they're needed to keep out Palestinian attackers, including suicide bombers. Already tight restrictions on Gaza were increased after the Islamic militant Hamas overran the territory in June.
PHOTO: AP
Gaza was the focus of violence on Thursday when rocket fired by Gaza militants hit a house in the Israeli border town of Sderot and seriously injured an Israeli woman.
The incoming UN Middle East envoy, Robert Serry, denounced Thursday's rocket attack in unusually strong terms. "Let me be clear about this: We consider that to be terrorist acts," he said.
A few hours later, Israeli aircraft blew up a car in Gaza City, killing three militants, Palestinians said. The Israeli military said the target was a Palestinian cell that fired rockets at Israel earlier.
After their meeting, Fayyad was asked if Barak agreed to ease the travel restrictions. "It's a one-word answer -- no," Fayyad said.
`"Donors are being asked to fund the Palestinian Authority, whose funding needs are at least in part caused by these [Israeli] restrictions," he said. "Clearly, the tradeoff is there for everyone to see."
Next week in Paris, nations that have donated funds to the Palestinians in the past are set to meet. They will hear a request for US$5.6 billion in new aid.
But the World Bank warned that unless the Israeli restrictions are eased, additional aid may be a waste of money. Another international aid group, Oxfam, echoed that conclusion.
Even if the donors pay the full amount, the Palestinian economy would keep shrinking by about 2 percent a year as long as the Israeli restrictions remain in place, the World Bank wrote in a report on Thursday.
Oxfam said aid projects are stuck because Israel is not allowing raw materials into Gaza.
Israel supports the donors' efforts and has an interest in seeing the Palestinian economy recover, government spokesman Mark Regev said on Thursday. Regev said that if restrictions are eased too quickly, Palestinian militants trying to torpedo peace efforts could carry out more attacks. Talks on a final peace deal resumed on Wednesday.
In Geneva, the International Committee of the Red Cross (ICRC) said that the humanitarian situation in the Palestinian territories is worsening. Gaza's situation is particularly dire.
Referring to the donors' conference, the ICRC called for immediate political action to alleviate the suffering. The Red Cross rarely addresses conflict parties so openly, preferring instead to raise its concerns through less public channels.
"The measures imposed by Israel come at an enormous humanitarian cost, leaving the people living under occupation with just enough to survive, but not enough to live a normal and dignified life," said Beatrice Megevand Roggo, ICRC's head of operations for the Middle East.
Young women standing idly around a park in Tokyo’s west suggest that a giant statue of Godzilla is not the only attraction for a record number of foreign tourists. Their faces lit by the cold glow of their phones, the women lining Okubo Park are evidence that sex tourism has developed as a dark flipside to the bustling Kabukicho nightlife district. Increasing numbers of foreign men are flocking to the area after seeing videos on social media. One of the women said that the area near Kabukicho, where Godzilla rumbles and belches smoke atop a cinema, has become a “real
Two Belgian teenagers on Tuesday were charged with wildlife piracy after they were found with thousands of ants packed in test tubes in what Kenyan authorities said was part of a trend in trafficking smaller and lesser-known species. Lornoy David and Seppe Lodewijckx, two 19-year-olds who were arrested on April 5 with 5,000 ants at a guest house, appeared distraught during their appearance before a magistrate in Nairobi and were comforted in the courtroom by relatives. They told the magistrate that they were collecting the ants for fun and did not know that it was illegal. In a separate criminal case, Kenyan Dennis
Incumbent Ecuadoran President Daniel Noboa on Sunday claimed a runaway victory in the nation’s presidential election, after voters endorsed the young leader’s “iron fist” approach to rampant cartel violence. With more than 90 percent of the votes counted, the National Election Council said Noboa had an unassailable 12-point lead over his leftist rival Luisa Gonzalez. Official results showed Noboa with 56 percent of the vote, against Gonzalez’s 44 percent — a far bigger winning margin than expected after a virtual tie in the first round. Speaking to jubilant supporters in his hometown of Olon, the 37-year-old president claimed a “historic victory.” “A huge hug
A judge in Bangladesh issued an arrest warrant for the British member of parliament and former British economic secretary to the treasury Tulip Siddiq, who is a niece of former Bangladeshi prime minister Sheikh Hasina, who was ousted in August last year in a mass uprising that ended her 15-year rule. The Bangladeshi Anti-Corruption Commission has been investigating allegations against Siddiq that she and her family members, including Hasina, illegally received land in a state-owned township project near Dhaka, the capital. Senior Special Judge of Dhaka Metropolitan Zakir Hossain passed the order on Sunday, after considering charges in three separate cases filed
RSS