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Iran Gives $120 Million to Hamas-led Palestinian Government NewsMax.com Wires TEHRAN -- Iran has given the Hamas-led Palestinian government more than $120 million this year, a Hamas leader said Thursday, and the Iranian government promised to sending money to the administration amid a Western financial embargo.
The U.S and Europe cut off hundreds of millions of dollars in aid to the Palestinian government to pressure the militant Hamas movement to recognize Israel and renounce violence after it took power in a January election landslide. The United States has been pressing its allies in the Mideast to keep up the blockade amid efforts to form a new coalition Palestinian government to jump-start the peace process with Israel.
Iran, a longtime ally of Hamas, has moved in with funds to try to fill the void, boosting its influence among Palestinians.
Palestinian Foreign Minister Mahmoud Zahar, visiting Tehran on Thursday, said Iran's aid has gone far beyond the $50 million it promised in April.
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"Until now Iran has given more than $120 million to the Palestinian government. They have said that they will provide us with more financial aid," he said after talks with Ali Larijani, the head of Iran's Supreme National Security Council.
"Iran has been standing by side of Hamas government in the hardest situation," Larijani said. "We certainly continue our supports to Hamas. It is symbol of resistance of Palestinian people."
Larijani did not specify how much Iran has given so far or say how much more money it would provide the Palestinians.
The cut-off in international funds has led to mass demonstrations by thousands of unpaid Palestinian civil servants, and the tension between Hamas and the mainstream moderate Fatah movement has erupted in gunbattles in the streets of Gaza.
Zahar said his "government has paid its employees three times in the past eight months." The Palestinian government has 140,000 employees, making it the largest employer in the West Bank and Gaza Strip. The cut-off has deeply hurt the Palestinian economy, with most banks refusing to transfer funds into the West Bank and Gaza for fear of Western punishment. There have been leaks in the blockade. Egypt this week allowed two Hamas lawmakers to cross into Gaza, each carrying some $2 million in cash. The source of the money was not known, though one of the lawmakers was coming from Saudi Arabia.
The Arab League passed a resolution this month calling on its members to break the embargo and provide aid to the Palestinians. So far, Arab governments have publicly done so.
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