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Gaza City/Stockholm: The Hamas-led Palestinian government welcomed moves yesterday by the Middle East quartet to resume aid payments but expressed anger at the continued political boycott of the regime. At a meeting in New York on Tuesday, the quartet which comprises the United States, United Nations, European Union and Russia agreed to establish a temporary trust fund which would enable donors to stump up aid without having to deal directly with Hamas. Coupled with Israel's earlier decision to stop handing over customs duties that it collected on behalf of the Palestinian National Authority, the suspension of aid has left the government unable to pay salaries in March and April for its 160,000 employees including members of the security forces.
In Stockholm, Palestinian Cabinet minister Atef Adwan yesterday criticised the decision by the quartet to have humanitarian aid bypass the Hamas-led government and be funnelled directly to the Palestinian people. Adwan, who is Hamas's refugee minister, said it would take "too long" for the funds to reach the Palestinians in that case. Adwan did not explain why he believed that bypassing the Hamas-led government would increase the time it takes for the aid to reach Palestinians, already short on medicines and food. "We are starving at the moment," he said. "We are short on everything. We can't be patient for weeks, so as to allow money to reach our people."
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