US President Barack Obama's administration has asked Congress to allow continued aid to Palestinians, even if officials linked to the militant group Hamas become part of the government, The Los Angeles Times reported Monday.
The move has nevertheless alarmed congressional supporters of Israel, the paper reported.
Under the existing law, any US aid would require that the Palestinian government recognize Israel, renounce violence and agree to follow past Israeli-Palestinian agreements. Hamas does not meet these criteria.The newspaper said the administration had requested the changes this month as part of an 83.4-billion-dollar emergency spending bill that also contains funding for the wars in Iraq and Afghanistan.
The bill also would provide 840 million dollars for the Palestinian Authority as well as for rebuilding the Gaza Strip after the Israeli military assault earlier this year.
But the Obama administration is not sure how to deliver the aid to Gaza because of the restrictions on dealing with Hamas, the report said.
The requested changes may never be used. Power-sharing talks between Hamas and the US-backed Fatah faction appear to be deadlocked.
They are watching for signs that the new Democratic team at the White House might be more sympathetic to Palestinians than the administration of former president George W. Bush, The Times said.
The paper quoted Republican Representative Mark Steven Kirk as saying that the proposal was like agreeing to support a government that "only has a few Nazis in it."
US officials insist that the new proposal doesn't amount to recognizing or aiding Hamas, the report said.
However, the request underscores the quandary faced by the Obama administration in its efforts to broker peace in the Middle East.
Obama has repeatedly called for a separate Palestinian state. But negotiating a peace agreement will be difficult without dealing with Hamas, which won Palestinian elections in 2006, The Times said.
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