International aid mustn’t end in Hamas pocket
While it is heartening to see the international community opening its purse-strings for re-building the Gaza strip, which was flattened during its 51-day war with Israel this summer, efforts in this regard will bear fruit if the ceasefire agreement continues to hold and the money is not diverted to re-enforce Hamas's terror infrastructure. In the first case, there is reason to be hopeful. Notwithstanding the occasional firing into southern Israel, which borders the Mediterranean strip, there has been a general cessation of hostilities. Militarily, Hamas has been dealt a severe blow, and it seems like Israeli deterrence has been established, even if for the time being. The second case, however, is much more problematic. At the major conference in Cairo on Sunday, donor countries pledged $5.4 billion to re-build Gaza, exceeding the four billion dollars that the Palestinian Authority had estimated. Qatar topped the list with a billion-dollar pledge, while the US promised $212 million and the Europe Union 450 million euros. India is also chipping in with a modest four million dollars. However, as past experiences show, the money in itself has never been the problem; it is the manner in which the funds are used (and in many cases, abused) that becomes an area of concern. At the 2009 donor conference held in Sharm el-Sheikh, after Operation Cast lead, $4.5 billion had been pledged. This was more than double of what the Palestinians had asked for. However, instead of that money being used to build schools, home and hospitals, there is now enough evidence to show that much of it was diverted by Hamas to replenish its arsenal and fortify its terror tunnels. This, in turn, helped it prepare the ground for the next round of fighting. In 2012, Israel bombarded Gaza again, following provocative rocket-fire from Hamas. The events of this summer followed the same pattern.
Unfortunately, despite much talk about putting strong safeguards in place to ensure that the billions of dollars that flow into Gaza are not siphoned off yet again, there is little to show for it on the ground. The UN is expected to monitor the cash flow, but given that Hamas missiles were found stacked in UN-run schools in the Gaza strip during the war, it is unlikely that the global body will be an effective watchdog. Also, much of the money will be routed through the Palestinian Authority, led by President Mahmoud Abbas, which is being considered to be a better bet than Hamas. But then, it’s really a choice between the devil and the deep blue sea. If Hamas is a globally designated terror organisation, the PA is seen as being corrupt and ineffective. Moreover, even though Hamas has joined the PA to form a Unity Government yet again, it is still unclear if it has ceded any control on the ground to Mr Abbas's Fatah party. Given Hamas's history of forcibly taking aid that it hasn’t pocketed otherwise, this is a cause for deep concern.