Lack of Palestinian Funding Could Lead to Chaos

Palestinian gas stations started shutting down and motorists lined up at pumps after an Israeli fuel company cut off deliveries Wednesday, deepening the humanitarian crisis following Hamas' rise to power.

An end to fuel supplies for the West Bank and gaza and Gaza could cripple hospitals, halt food deliveries and keep people home from work — a devastating scenario for an economy already ravaged by Israeli and international sanctions.

A spokesman for Prime Minister Ehud Olmert said Israel would "absolutely not" bail out the Palestinians.

The head of the Palestinian petrol authority, predicted fuel supplies would run out in many areas today. "If this happens, there will be a humanitarian crisis," he said.

A a top Health Ministry official in Gaza, warned that the area's hospitals, already suffering from a medicine shortage, would cease to function without fuel: Ambulances would stop running, employees would be unable to get to work, gas generators — used during ongoing electric outages — would be hobbled.

The Palestinian prime minister warned that the Palestinian Authority, cut off from most foreign aid since his Hamas movement took office five weeks ago, could founder unless new money arrives. "If the siege continues, the whole authority will be facing collapse," he said in an interview. "And if there is a collapse, there will be chaos in the region."

"Nobody needs the collapse of the Palestinian Authority," a senior Israeli security official said in a recent briefing, speaking on condition of anonymity. "When I say nobody, I mean nobody."

The World Bank said its prediction in mid-March that aid cuts and other economic sanctions would lead to a 30 percent drop in the average personal income of Palestinians this year was "too rosy."

The aid cutoffs appear to be increasing anti-U.S. sentiment in Palestine. "The problem is the West, not us," said Mustafa Hasoona, 33, a pharmacist. "If they don't respect democracy, they shouldn't call for it," he said, noting that Hamas rose to power in elections long advocated by the United States.

He flipped through a tattered notebook on his counter, its pages filled with names of customers and the sums they owe him. Many of them are taking half-doses of medications, he said, and mothers are diluting iron supplements for infants to make them last longer.

"We are with this government we elected," Hasoona said. "I voted for it."

[Excerpt of article by Scott Wilson, Washington Post]