Forum Views ()
Forum Replies ()
Read more with google mobile :
Gaza Hamas rulers approve $540 million budget
Yahoo!
My Yahoo!
Mail
More Yahoo! Services
Account Options
New User? Sign Up
Sign In
Help
Yahoo! Search
web search
Home
Singapore
Asia Pacific
World
Business
Entertainment
Sports
Technology
Africa
Europe
Latin America
Middle East
North America
Gaza Hamas rulers approve $540 million budget
By RIZEK ABDEL JAWAD,Associated Press Writer -
2 hours 39 minutes ago
Send
IM Story
Print
GAZA CITY, Gaza Strip – Gaza's Hamas parliament approved a government budget of $540 million for 2010, legislators said Saturday, suggesting that a tight border blockade isn't stopping the cash flow to the Islamic militants.
Up to $60 million stems from local taxes and the rest from "gifts and outside assistance," said legislator Jamal Nassar. Iran is believed to be one of Hamas' main financial backers, with cash assistance hauled through smuggling tunnels under Gaza's border with Egypt.
Nassar and fellow lawmaker Yehia Moussa refused to provide a detailed breakdown of the spending plan, and it was impossible to verify that Hamas indeed has $540 million at its disposal.
However, a border blockade by Israel and Egypt _ first imposed in 2006 and tightened after Hamas overran Gaza a year later _ has not weakened the militants. With only humanitarian aid and a few basic items entering Gaza through border crossings, the tunnels are the main supply line for cash, weapons and a wide range of commercial goods.
Egypt is installing an underground barrier along its border with Gaza in an attempt to stop the smuggling.
The Hamas government has about 32,000 people on its payroll, including civil servants and members of the security forces. About $30 million of the budget would go to Arab residents of Jerusalem and Islamic sites in the city, Nassar said, without explaining how the money would reach its destination.
The budget was passed by parliament Thursday, without an immediate announcement.
In adopting a separate spending plan, Hamas further cemented the rift with the West Bank, run by Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas. Hamas seized control of Gaza in 2007, leaving Abbas' rival Fatah movement in charge only of the West Bank.
Palestinians want both territories, which flank Israel, to become their future state.
The Abbas government's budget for 2009 was $2.78 billion, funded in large part by foreign aid. Abbas' Palestinian Authority continues to pay the salaries for tens of thousands of Gaza civil servants and security officers who were sent home after the Hamas takeover. It also pays for fuel to run Gaza's power plant and supports hospitals and schools.
The Hamas government is also relieved of much responsibility because the United Nations runs dozens of schools, health clinics and gives food aid to around 1 million Gazans.
Earlier Saturday, Israeli warplanes destroyed two tunnels under Gaza's border with Israel. The Israeli military said tunnels had been dug as part of plans to carry out attacks in Israel. The airstrikes came in response to Gaza rocket fire two days earlier on the Israeli border community of Netivot, the military said.
The Israel-Gaza border has been relatively quiet in the past year, since the end of Israel's three-week war on Hamas, meant to halt Gaza rocket fire.
Abbas, meanwhile, said he is "reconsidering" security coordination with Israel in the West Bank. Both Israel and Abbas have a common foe, Hamas, and coordination intensified after Hamas' Gaza takeover in 2007.
However, Israel also continues to carry out arrest raids in areas under Abbas' control, most recently a week ago when Israeli soldiers killed three members of Abbas' Fatah movement who allegedly had shot dead an Israeli settler.
The incursion embarrassed Abbas, who is routinely criticized at home for his security ties with Israel.
"Because of the manner in which Israel is operating we must reconsider many of the issues that we undertake with it," Abbas told Palestine TV on Friday.
"We are not the guardians of Israel's security; we are partners if they want to cooperate," he said.
___
Associated Press Writer Diaa Hadid contributed to this report from Jerusalem.
Recommend
Send
IM Story
Print
Related Articles
Colorado nurse rests after harrowing ordeal AP - 2 hours 26 minutes ago
Gaza Hamas rulers approve $540 million budget AP - 2 hours 39 minutes ago
Picasso, Rousseau works stolen in France AP - 2 hours 39 minutes ago
Report: UK drinking culture strains health system AP - 2 hours 45 minutes ago
Desperate Somalis seek 'back-door' route to US AP - 2 hours 46 minutes ago
News Search
Top Stories
Italian banks face first class action lawsuits
German businesses abuse scheme to save jobs
Insurer Allianz sees good year for Germany in 2010
Handball Henry still a fan favourite
'Snowbama' time in Hawaii
More Top Stories »
ADVERTISEMENT
Most Popular
Most Viewed
Most Recommended
Japan Airlines 'may stop international flights'
'Snowbama' time in Hawaii
Oil prices rise on last day of 2009
Iran's Mousavi ready to die for opposition cause
UK honours F1 king, Status Quo stars, but bankers out
More Most Viewed »
Tiger's wife Elin seeking divorce: reports
British priest defends urging people to shoplift
Century-old butter found in Scott's Antarctic hut
Brazilian confesses to sticking needles into two-year-old
Plastics component affects intestine: study
More Most Recommended »
Elsewhere on Yahoo!
Financial news on Yahoo! Finance
Stars and latest movies
Best travel destinations
More on Yahoo! News
Home
Singapore
Asia Pacific
World
Business
Entertainment
Sports
Technology
Subscribe to our news feeds
Top StoriesMy Yahoo!RSS
» More news feeds | What are news feeds?
Also on Yahoo
Answers
Groups
Mail
Messenger
Mobile
Travel
Finance
Movies
Sports
Games
» All Yahoo! Services
Site Highlights
Singapore
Full Coverage
Most Popular
Asia Entertainment
Photos
Copyright © 2010 Yahoo! Southeast Asia Pte. Ltd. (Co. Reg. No. 199700735D). All Rights Reserved.
Terms of Service |
Privacy Policy |
Community |
Intellectual Property Rights Policy |
Help
Other News on Sunday, 3 January 2010 Gaza Hamas rulers approve $540 million budget
Italian banks face first class action lawsuits
Venezuela captures bigger drug haul in 2009
|
Afghan parliament rejects most of Karzai's cabinet nominees
German businesses abuse scheme to save jobs
Israel acts like the world's "spoilt child"
Somali charged with attempt to kill Danish cartoonist
Saudi FM says Israel behaves like 'spoiled child'
Insurer Allianz sees good year for Germany in 2010
Danish cartoonist's assailant charged with attempted murders
Bin Laden daughter should be free to quit Iran
Iran issues 'ultimatum' to West over nuclear swap
Iran gives West ultimatum to accept uranium swap
Yemen president to work with U.S. to boost security
|
Late cleric's son warns of more Iran turmoil
Bin Laden daughter should be free to quit Iran: Saudi Arabia
|
Picasso, other art works stolen from French villa
|
Karzai visits south Afghanistan, rockets land nearby
|
Bomb suspect may not have begun trip in Ghana
|
Blaze at Ohio mobile home kills 2 kids, 2 adults
Early morning NC apartment fire kills 1, injures 4
Pakistan volleyball game bomb toll hits 93
Smoke smell sends NYC-bound jet back to Boston
10 die as trains collide in fog-bound northern India
Afghan parliament rejects most Cabinet nominees
Cop group's card played role in Times Square scare
Oil leak pollutes large stretch of China river
Remains of early 1900s plane found in Antarctica
China expected to grow 9.5% in 2010
Picasso, other art works stolen from French villa
Picasso, other art works stolen from French villa
|
Rush Limbaugh says doctors found nothing wrong
|
Afghan MPs reject Karzai cabinet nominees
Thousands march in Spain for ETA prisoners' rights
China says H1N1 flu spreading into the countryside
|
Tablets and netbooks to be electronics show stars
Beat the blues by going to bed early: study
'Google phone' debut expected this week
Hundreds evacuated as floods hit eastern Australia
|
Turkey, Georgia, UAE bankroll Caucasus rebels: Russian television
Iran warns West it will make its own nuclear fuel
China sees long-term stability struggle in Xinjiang
|
Sandra Bullock Named Top Money-Making Star Of 2009
US commander in Iraq says troop drawdown on track
Mike Tyson Escapes Criminal Charges For Punching Paparazzo
"Happy ******* New Year" As Lady GaGa Strips And Rocks Miami
Mexico detains brother of slain drug boss
|
Colombian volcano erupts, evacuation ordered
|
Afghan parliament rejects most of Karzai's cabinet nominees
Bomb suspect reached out to UK militants: report
|
Danish cartoonist attacker suspected of al Qaeda ties
|
U.K. says it, U.S. agree to fund Yemen police unit
|
Tablets and netbooks to be electronics show stars
China sees long-term stability struggle in Xinjiang
Snow paralyses Beijing as north China braces for cold
Race link 'presumptuous' in Indian killing: police
Scores arrested in north Texas cockfight raid
Fla. police nab man in Thanksgiving killings of 4
Workers contain fuel leak in China river
Watch out: Thieves rob Tokyo jewellery store
Calif. pastor takes in $2.4M after donations plea
Heavy snow brings Beijing to standstill
Lessons of a weekend of free health care
China says H1N1 flu spreading into the countryside
Gloom and fury as Pakistan attack toll nears 100
3rd body found after Detroit apartment fire
Pioneering plaintiff wants DC's 1st gay marriage
Afghan parliament rejects Karzai's Cabinet list
Remains of early 1900s plane found in Antarctica
Obama sees sea life at Hawaii park, goes to beach
FAA watching American Airlines after 3 mishaps
GOP leader says US leaders can overcome problems
Eurozone faces 2010 debt crisis
Counterfeiting in China thrives: experts
Asahi to tie up with Carlsberg in Hong Kong: report
Canada's Chinese immigrants assimilate quickly, easily
Bono calls for control over Internet downloads
Hamas says in final stage of Fatah reconciliation
Iraq to support Blackwater lawsuit in U.S. courts
|
Iran says West agreed to wait over nuclear proposal
Iran MPs reject call for subsidy bill withdrawal
|
Iran MPs reject call for subsidy bill withdrawal
Abbas to Egypt for talks on Mideast peace efforts
Death toll from Brazil mudslides rises to 76
|
Joint Israeli-German cabinet meeting rescheduled
Iran: Clash with drug smugglers kills 11 policemen
Hamas says in final stage of Fatah reconciliation
|
Israel FM questions Palestinian president's authority
Roadside bomb kills former Pakistan minister
|
Death toll in central Somalia fighting rises to 47
|
BAA to introduce full-body scanners at UK's Heathrow
|
Opposition nominates south Sudanese for president
|
Pope's secretary visits woman who floored pontiff
|
About 1,000 Australians evacuate homes from floods
US, Britain close Yemen embassies over Al-Qaeda threats
Will latest jobs bill really produce jobs?
One thousand forced to flee Australia floodwaters
UN official: Afghan Cabinet dispute a 'setback'
The nation's weather
Five leap to their deaths in China to flee fire
Friends of missing Utah mom launch Web media blitz
Sister accidentally runs over, kills brother
Malaysian govt to appeal 'Allah' ruling: minister
US, Britain widen anti-terror front in Yemen
3 Pakistanis convicted in Indian blasts escape
Australian PM pens children's book
Clijsters starts New Year in style in Brisbane
Peruvian court upholds 25-year sentence for Fujimori
Tokyo bourse to launch high-speed trading system
Samsung aims to quadruple LED-backlit TV sales
A far-off museum to save an Ethiopian tribe's soul
French bakery offers future to Afghan minority children
Greece at new risk of being pushed off euro
Bodies of missing Tenn. mom, Jo Ann Bain, and daughter found
Female Breasts Are Bigger Than Ever
AMD Trinity Accelerated Processing Units Now in Volume Production
The Avengers (2012 film), made the second biggest opening- and single-day gross of all-time
AMD to Start Production of piledriver
Ivy Bridge Quad-Core, Four-Thread Desktop CPUs
Islamists Protest Lady Gaga's Concert in Indonesia
Japan Successfully Broadcasts an 8K Signal Over the Air
ECB boosts loans to 1 trillion Euro to stop credit crunch
Egypt : Mohammed Morsi won with 52 percent
What do you call 100,000 Frenchmen with their hands up
AMD Launches AMD Embedded R-Series APU Platform
Fed Should not Ignore Emerging Market Crisis
Fed casts shadow over India, emerging markets
Why are Chinese tourists so rude? A few insights