WASHINGTON, June 24: The US Senate on Friday adopted by consensus a bill to isolate the Hamas-led Palestinian government, forbidding any US aid until it recognises Israel.
“None of us want to see a penny of American taxpayer money going to a Hamas-led government that refuses to meet the basic demands not just of the United States, but of the international community,” said Democrat Joseph Biden, number two on the Senate foreign relations committee, in announcing the measure.
The Senate measure also called on Hamas to recognise existing peace accords with Israel.
“It is critically important that in pressuring Hamas we make it clear to the Palestinian people that it is Hamas that is failing them, not the international community,” he said.
The bill allows for continued assistance for food, water, health and medicine, as well as for democracy promotion, human rights, and education to help Palestinian president Mahmud Abbas in ‘fulfilling his duties’.
“Hamas must choose between bullets and ballots, between destructive terror and constructive governance,” said Mr Biden. “It cannot have it both ways. The legislation passed by the Senate is an attempt to clarify the choices for Hamas and to make clear our rejection of a group that is committed to terror.”
The vote comes one month after the House of Represen-tatives adopted a similar measure. Both the US government and Palestinian officials criticised the earlier House measure. —AFP
