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UN warns of collapse in Palestinian areas
 The UN on Tuesday became the latest international agency to caution that Israel and the West stand to unleash a crisis in Palestinian territories by withholding hundreds of millions of dollars in aid and tax transfers. The flow of money has been jeopardised by the Islamic Hamas group's landslide victory in January 25 Palestinian elections. The group has killed hundreds of Israelis in suicide bombings, and has refused since its election victory to abandon its calls for Israel's destruction. In a report released Tuesday, the UN Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs cautioned that non-payment of the tax and customs transfers would bring the Palestinian government to the brink of collapse by limiting its ability to provide basic services such as health, education, utilities, sanitation and policing. The transfers pay a large proportion of the salaries the Palestinian Authority pays to the 150,000 people on its payroll, the agency said, citing figures that are slightly higher than official numbers. Failure to pay salaries would strip an estimated 25 per cent of the total Palestinian population of their livelihood, because the salaries support extended families, the report said. Posted by: Fred 2006-03-01 |
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