Chron.com | Life in Gaza Strip grows worse without Western aid: "Western aid cutoff ravages Gaza Strip | Paychecks stop, patients suffer and streets pile with trash amid U.S.-led boycott of Hamas | By GREGORY KATZ | Middle East Bureau
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This is a terrible time to get sick in the Gaza Strip. Shifa Hospital, the main medical center, is fast running out of money. The same is true for many individuals and families in the Palestinian territories, where a 2-month-old cutoff of millions of dollars in aid from the United States and Europe is having a devastating impact.
The U.S.-led boycott is designed to force Hamas, the militant Islamic group that won elections in January, to renounce terrorism and recognize Israel. The aid cutoff is causing severe hardships in the West Bank and Gaza Strip, where nearly 4 million Palestinians, many already in poverty, face a total breakdown in government services.
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"This financial problem will lead to an internal explosion and that is very close. Three hours, four days, a week, a month, who knows?"
He said Hamas wants good relations with the U.S. government but is not willing to "bow down" and recognize Israel to placate the West. He said that the late Yasser Arafat's Palestine Liberation Organization had recognized Israel but gained nothing in return for this major concession. ...
