The Quartet of Middle East peace brokers has agreed on a way to channel aid to the Palestinians for a trial period to ease a financial squeeze on the new government following the election of Hamas. The group of international mediators - the United Nations, the United States, Russia and the European Union, reached the agreement at the UN headquarters on Tuesday. The Quartet issued a statement after a day of talks in which Egypt, Jordan and Saudi Arabia warned of a civil war if the Hamas-led Palestinian Authority was left to collapse. "The Quartet expressed its willingness to endorse a temporary international mechanism that is limited in scope and duration, operates with full transparency and accountability," it said.The United States, which initially opposed a European proposal to channel aid to the Palestinians via an international mechanism such as the World Bank, said any such move would have to be limited in scope and mechanism so aid would not reach the Hamas-led Palestinian Authority. Condoleezza Rice, the US secretary of state, told a news conference at the United Nations that "the thrust of the statement is that the international community is still trying to respond to the needs of the Palestinian people". "It is to provide assistance to the Palestinian people so they do not suffer deprivation," she said.