Meeting in Brussels, members of the European Union have agreed on a new aid program to the Palestinians designed to increase humanitarian aid without directly sending money to the Hamas-led Palestinian Authority.
The new program will provide money for healthcare, aid to the poor and power supplies while still freezing out the militant group Hamas which is classified as a terrorist organization by both the E.U. and the U.S. State Department.
The program is tentatively scheduled to begin in early July. Initial aid will equal approximately $100 million euros.
According to a statement by the E.U., the program was drawn up after consultation with the other three members of the 'Quartet' that drew up the roadmap peace plan: the United States, Russia and the United Nations.
E.U. External Relations Commissioner Benita Ferrero-Waldner said: 'We Europeans are determined to play our part in preventing a humanitarian crisis in the Palestinian territories.'
Ferrero-Waldner is scheduled to visit Israel and the Palestinian territories next week for meetings with both Israeli Prime Minister Ehud Olmert and P.A. President Mahmoud Abbas.
The P.A. has been unable to pay salaries of civil servants since Hamas has come to power. Approximately 165,000 government employees have not been paid for the past three months.
