RAMALLAH, West Bank (AP) - The deputy Palestinian prime minister said Tuesday that international donors are hesitant to fund the reconstruction of the Gaza Strip so long as Hamas remains in control there and the specter of future wars looms.
Mohammed Mustafa, a top official in the West Bank Palestinian Authority, said international bodies are eager for President Mahmoud Abbas' Fatah forces to take on a leading role in Gaza in the wake of a 50-day war between Israel and Hamas that killed more than 2,000 people.
With Hamas still committed to Israel's destruction and with an arsenal of rockets still at its disposal, the donors are wary of rebuilding, Mustafa said. This summer's war was the third in less than six years.