US WANTS TO INCREASE AID TO PALIS

Rice: U.S. wants to increase aid to Palestinians (A.P.)

RIO DE JANEIRO, Brazil - The United States hopes to find a way to increase humanitarian donations to the Palestinians after Hamas’ election victory, Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice said Sunday....U.S. officials have nearly finished an extensive review of aid to the Palestinians that was intended to ensure that future aid does not flow to Hamas.

Hamas, which refuses to renounce violence and has claimed responsibility for dozens of suicide bombings against Israel, is listed as a terrorist organization by both the United States and the European Union. U.S. diplomats are concerned both about the effect an aid cut would have on a poor and underemployed population, and about the perception among Muslims that the U.S. is cutting aid as punishment for selection of leaders it does not like.

The Palestinian Authority is effectively broke, with a monthly deficit in the tens of millions of dollars. In 2005, the first year the authority was not headed by Yasser Arafat, overseas donors contributed about $1 billion of the authority’s approximately $1.9 billion. U.S. direct aid is a small part of that — $70 million last year. Separately, the U.S. spent $225 million for humanitarian projects through the U.S. Agency for International Development last year, and gave $88 million for refugee assistance.