The European Commission has said it is ready to offer 34 million euros ($43 million) in humanitarian aid to the Palestinian territories, whose government is on the verge of bankruptcy. Louis Michel, the humanitarian aid commissioner, will make the offer to the EU's 25-member states "in the next few days", his spokesman said, adding that the new money would be used for food aid, sanitation, water and health projects.The European Union is the biggest donor to the Palestinians, many of whom live in poverty, but it suspended direct aid to the government after Hamas took office in March because Hamas refuses to renounce violence or to recognise Israel. Israel has also slapped heavy financial sanctions on Hamas, compounding a financial crisis that could bring the group down. The more than 160,000 civil servants on the payroll of the Palestinian Authority, amounting to a wage bill in excess of $120 million a month, have not been paid for two months.
| The Euros slapped the sanctions on because Hamas refuses to renounce violence or recognize Israel. To date they've done neither. All they had to do was wait the Marshmallow People out. |