Free Republic

The White House is signaling its support for a new congressional effort to cut all U.S. funding to the Palestinian Authority due to its continued support of terrorism against Israelis and Americans, according to senior lawmakers and senior White House officials. Leading lawmakers in the House and Senate gathered Tuesday on Capitol Hill to introduce legislation that would cut all U.S. funding to the Palestinian government, which has been criticized for providing financial incentives to terrorists who kill American and Israeli civilians. The White House signaled its support for the legislation in a vast departure from the Obama administration, which...

The US State Department announced on Friday that nearly $500 million in aid had been unblocked for transfer to the Palestinian Authority, months after Congress froze the funds in late-2012. “To date, we have moved $295.7 million in fiscal year 2012 money… and $200 million in fiscal year 2013 assistance,” State Department spokeswoman Victoria Nuland told reporters. The announcement came on the heels of US President Barack Obama’s first trip to Israel and the West Bank since assuming office in 2009. The Palestinian Authority has been in the grips of a deep economic crisis, largely due to promised aid going...

WASHINGTON (JWN and agencies)—The US House Foreign Affairs Committee, under the chairmanship of Rep. Ileana Ros-Lehtinen, yesterday decided to hold back nearly $200 million in humanitarian aid to the Palestinian Authority. The decision, which is in opposition to the wishes of President Barack Obama, is understood to reflect congressional anger at Palestinian Authority President Mahmoud Abbas’s unilateral bid for statehood recognition at the UN and failure to resume direct negotiations with Israel. Ros-Lehtinen (R-Fla.) decided to keep the committee from considering approval of $192 million in humanitarian assistance. The money is separate from other assistance to the Palestinian Authority, some...

GAZA (Reuters) - Thousands of Palestinians held rallies across the Gaza Strip and the West Bank on Friday in support of the militant Hamas-led government which continues to face diplomatic isolation and aid cuts from donors. Palestinian officials have warned the economy could collapse within months as Israel and Western countries led by the United States keep up pressure on the Palestinian Authority. The West has cut direct aid while Israel has stopped tax transfers. The resulting aid cut-off has deepened poverty in Gaza and the occupied West Bank. Thousands of Hamas supporters held protests across Gaza, some burned Israeli...

GAZA CITY, Gaza Strip - Hamas formally took power Wednesday, and the newly installed prime minister pledged to cooperate with President Mahmoud Abbas, head of the defeated Fatah party. At a news conference in Gaza after Abbas swore in Ismail Haniyeh and his Cabinet, Haniyeh said his relations with Abbas would stress "cooperation and harmony, based on the supreme interest of the people." Haniyeh said he and Abbas would confront "Israeli aggression against the people" as well as internal chaos. He called Hamas' assumption of power "a great moment." The swearing-in ceremony, which came just a day after Israel's national...