In February, donor nations pledged billions in aid for Hamas-controlled Gaza. Now, donors are facing a dilemma – how can they rebuild Gaza without benefiting Gaza's leaders?
In early June, the Ad Hoc Liaison Committee for Assistance to the Palestinians (AHLC) plans to meet in an attempt to find a way to give to Gaza without giving support to terrorists. The Oslo-based AHLC is heavily supported by European Union nations, which were among the major donors to Gaza earlier in the year.
Several Arab countries pledged aid to Gaza as well. However, much of that aid has not yet materialized, leaving both the Palestinian Authority in Judea and Samaria and the breakaway Hamas-led PA in Gaza facing a budget crunch.
Another major pledge for Gaza came from the United States, which in February promised $300 million in aid for Gaza and another $600 million to the PA.
Norwegian envoy to Israel Jakken Bion Lian told the Post this week that several major donor nations have agreed on a mechanism that will allow them to send money to Gaza and begin reconstruction projects without helping Hamas. Lian did not specify the planned method of money transfer, but said the United Nations would be heavily involved.
The U.N. in Gaza employs primarily local Arabs and does not reject applicants based on their support for terrorist groups, or as the UN terms it, “political affiliation.” In January, the U.N. clashed with Hamas after the latter group stole supplies during its war on Israel; some of the supplies were later returned.
While Lian expressed confidence that the EU would find a way to help Gaza's civilians without helping Hamas, many Israeli editorialists and political analysts are skeptical. They have pointed out that money can easily be interchanged for weapons and that foreign efforts to rebuild Gaza have the responsibility to prevent Hamas from spending its money on arms and its increasingly large military force.
One critic of the AHLC and similar groups, historian Michael Rubin, has accused the U.N. and donor countries of being “unintentionally complicit” in Hamas' attacks on Israel and mistreatment of Gaza's population. “By subsidizing Palestinian schools, health, and welfare, donors removed the accountability upon which good governance depends,” Rubin warned earlier this year. Peace will only come when “both sides recognize the true cost of war,” he said.