INT'L AID TO PALIS UP SINCE HAMAS WIN

International Aid to Palestinians Up Since Hamas Win - Aimee Rhodes (Jerusalem Post)
International aid to the Palestinians increased by nearly 10 percent following Hamas' election victory, despite the reassessment of donor programs, UN under-secretary general for political affairs Ibrahim Gambari told the UN Security Council on Thursday. Humanitarian assistance alone had doubled since 2004.

Russia opposes Hamas embargo (JTA)
Russia called for the Western aid embargo against the Hamas-led Palestinian Authority to be lifted. Deputy Foreign Minister Alexander Saltanov, whose country is among the Quartet of foreign mediators in the Israeli-Palestinian crisis, said Tuesday that the issue would be raised during a Feb. 2 meeting of the forum.

“Russia has always opposed the blockade, and we count on the Quartet listening to our point of view,” Saltanov told Russia’s Interfax news agency.

The embargo was imposed after Hamas swept Palestinian Authority legislative elections last year in a bid to press the radical Islamist group into recognizing Israel, accepting past peace deals and renouncing terrorism.

But Russia showed early signs of breaking with its Quartet partners — the United States, European Union and United Nations — when it hosted senior Hamas politicians in Moscow.