STRASBOURG, France, May 16 (UPI) -- Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas Tuesday urged the European Union to resume aid to the occupied territories to prevent a new cycle of conflict.
Speaking to the European Parliament in Strasbourg, Abbas warned that continuing to suspend aid would further worsen the "deteriorating economic and social situation" in Palestine, with a negative impact on world security as a whole.
Direct funding from the European Union and United States to the Palestinian Authority was halted after the militant group Hamas won a surprise victory in January's elections. Leaders say they will engage with Hamas only if it renounces violence and ends its commitment to the destruction of the state of Israel.
The move plunged the Palestinian Authority into a financial crisis. Some 25 percent of Palestinians in the West Bank and Gaza are dependent on salaries from the PA, which it is now struggling to pay.
Abbas called on the EU to give Hamas more time to adapt to international demands and to stop punishing the Palestinian people.
"Our approach needs the support of the international community," he said. "The new government must be given the given the chance to adapt to the basic requirements of the international community."
He also urged the EU to put pressure on Israel to release the millions of dollars in tax revenues that it is withholding from the Palestinian Authority.
Britain and other EU member states are discussing ways to channel funds to the Palestinian people while bypassing the Hamas government, a move to which the United States has raised no objection.
