UNITED NATIONS, May 9 (UPI) -- Even though donors are balking at funding a Hamas-led Palestinian government that has yet to renounce violence and recognize Israel, a meeting of key Middle East peace process partners is calling for aid to relieve the deteriorating humanitarian conditions because of a lack of funding in the West Bank and Gaza.
It shows how serious the problem is getting since Israel continues to refuse to hand over tax revenues to the Hamas-led Palestinian Authority -- meaning civil servants have been unpaid for months -- and nations have suspended aid.
The call was made after a meeting Tuesday at U.N. World Headquarters in New York by the diplomatic Quartet of the European Union, Russia, the United Nations and the United States. The panel endorsed a temporary mechanism to funnel assistance directly to the Palestinian people.
The move came after senior officials of the Quartet -- hosted by U.N. Secretary-General Kofi Annan -- also met with the foreign ministers of Egypt, Saudi Arabia and Jordan.
"The Quartet expressed serious concern about deteriorating conditions in the West Bank and Gaza, and about the delivery of humanitarian assistance, economic life, social cohesion and Palestinian institutions," Annan told reporters after the meetings, highlighting the main points of a statement adopted by the Quartet.
He said the group expressed "willingness to endorse a temporary international mechanism, limited in duration and scope and fully accountable and that ensures direct delivery of any assistance to the Palestinian people.
"The Quartet welcomed the EU's offer to develop and propose such a mechanism, and invites donors and international organizations to consider participating."
It also urged Israel, in parallel, to take steps to improve the humanitarian situation of the Palestinians.
"If these criteria can be met, the operation of the temporary international mechanism should begin as soon as possible and be reviewed after three months to determine whether it should continue," the diplomatic group said in the statement.
The Quartet added that donors showed a willingness to work toward restoration of assistance to the Palestinian government once it committed to non-violence, recognized Israel, and accepted previous agreements and obligations, including the Quartet's "road map" for peace, which envisages two states -- Israel and Palestine -- living side-by-side within secure and internationally recognized borders.
The group condemned the Palestinian government's justification of the April 17 suicide bombing in Tel Aviv, while expressing concern over Israeli military operations that result in the loss of innocent life, settlement expansion and the route of the separation barrier. It also reiterated the importance of "both parties avoiding unilateral measures which prejudice final status issues."
Welcoming Israeli Prime Minister Ehud Olmert's call for negotiations with a Palestinian partner committed to the road map, as well as PA President Mahmoud Abbas' continued commitment to a platform of peace, the Quartet said it is "encouraged by these statements of intent."
Besides Annan, U.S. Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice, Russian Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov, the EU's High Representative for a Common Foreign and Security Policy Javier Solana, Foreign Minister Ursula Plassnik of Austria, which currently holds the EU Council presidency, and European Commissioner for External Relations Benita Ferrero Waldner were also in attendance.
"The thrust of the statement is that the international community is still trying to respond to the needs of the Palestinian people," Rice said, adding, "the United States is today making available $10 million in in-kind assistance to meet the emergency needs on the medical side, and the international community is trying to respond.
"We call on Israel to respond," she continued. "But ultimately, the resolution to this is a Palestinian government that accepts its responsibilities for governing, that accepts the Quartet's requirements and the norms that would help us get to a two-state solution and back onto the road map."
Foreign Minister Ahmed Aboul Gheit of Egypt and his counterparts Abdul Ilah Khatib of Jordan and Prince Saud al-Faisal of Saudi Arabia met separately with the secretary-general after their Quartet meeting.
A U.N. spokesman, Stephane Dujarric, said they discussed the political environment in the Middle East, including the situation with the Palestinians and developments in Lebanon, Syria, Iraq, Iran and Darfur, Sudan.
In addition to the political situation, participants discussed the importance of the U.N. system continuing to provide assistance to the Palestinian people and stressed that the lead U.N. agency aiding Palestinian refugees -- the U.N. Relief and Works Agency -- requires the cooperation of all parties.
