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Paris hosts Mid-East donor talks Paris hosts Mid-East donor talks
(about 3 hours later)
Officials from more than 60 countries are in Paris pledging a multi-billion dollar aid package for Palestinians, in the biggest such meeting for a decade. Officials from 68 countries in Paris have pledged a multi-billion dollar aid package for Palestinians, in the biggest such meeting for a decade.
Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas wants $5.6bn (£2.8bn) by 2010 to help set up a viable Palestinian state. To help set up a viable Palestinian state, Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas wants $5.6bn (£2.8bn) by 2010.
He warned the one-day donors' summit that Palestinians were facing a "total catastrophe" and challenged Israel to freeze all settlement activity.He warned the one-day donors' summit that Palestinians were facing a "total catastrophe" and challenged Israel to freeze all settlement activity.
The talks follow a US-backed Middle East summit in Maryland last month. Hamas was not invited but called the talks a "declaration of war" on it.
Mr Abbas told the conference a "moment of truth" had arrived. "This was very clear in the speeches," said Sami Abu-Zuhri, spokesman for Hamas, which seized control of the Gaza Strip in June from Mr Abbas's Fatah movement.
'No excuses' "[French President Nicolas] Sarkozy, for example, called on the Palestinians to unite behind Abbas and said there would be no peace with a group that refuses to recognise Israel - meaning Hamas," he added.
"Without this support, without the payment of aid that will allow the Palestinian treasury to fulfil its role, we will be facing a total catastrophe in the West Bank and Gaza," he said. 'Moment of truth'
The moderate Palestinian leader added: "I expect [Israel] to stop all settlement activities, without exceptions." Gaza, already suffering from an international boycott against Hamas after it won elections in early 2006, was plunged further into economic and political isolation after the Islamist militant group seized control of the territory amid a violent power struggle with Fatah this summer.
BBC Middle East Editor Jeremy Bowen says the faint hopes raised in Annapolis, Maryland began fading after Israel promptly announced plans to expand a settlement on occupied land between Jerusalem and Bethlehem. Appealing for aid, Mr Abbas told donors in Paris a "moment of truth" had arrived.
DONOR PLEDGES European Union: $650m in 2008US: $555m in 2008France: $300m over three yearsGermany: $290m over three yearsJapan: $150m South Korea: $13m over three years class="" href="/1/hi/world/middle_east/7141875.stm">ICRC demands action "Without the payment of aid ... we will be facing a total catastrophe in the West Bank and Gaza," he said.
Settling people on occupied land is illegal under international law. DONOR PLEDGES European Union: $650m in 2008US: $555m in 2008France: $300m over three yearsGermany: $290m over three yearsJapan: $150m South Korea: $13m over three years class="" href="/1/hi/world/middle_east/7141875.stm">ICRC demands action Monday's summit follows last month's US-backed Middle East conference in Annapolis, Maryland, which launched negotiations aiming to create a Palestinian state within the next 12 months.
Under the US-backed "road map" peace plan, Israel must freeze the building of Israeli settlements, while the Palestinians must disarm militants and restore order in the Palestinian territories. A key element of the renewed peace talks is the US-backed road map, which requires Israel to freeze settlement-building activity and the Palestinians to disarm militants.
Mr Abbas told the conference: "I'll be eager to implement all our commitments under the road map, and I expect the Israeli side to do the same, comprehensively, and without excuses, by us or by them." "I expect [Israel] to stop all settlement activities, without exceptions," Mr Abbas also said.
After the Annapolis talks, Israel unveiled plans to expand a settlement on occupied land between Jerusalem and Bethlehem.
Mr Abbas told the conference that both the Palestinians and Israelis should each meet their road map commitments "without excuses".
Israeli Foreign Minister Tzipi Livni told the summit that Israel was committed to its obligations, "including in relation to settlement activities", but did not elaborate.
She added: "We do not want the image of Israel in the Palestinian mind to be a soldier at a checkpoint".
'Abhorrent conditions'
The aid package formally includes Gaza, but analysts say most of the aid will go to the West Bank, which is controlled by the moderate Palestinian president.
Gaza is dependent on aid from the international community Mechanics of peace talksAnalysis: After Annapolis
UN Secretary General Ban Ki-moon told the summit that people in Gaza were living in the "most abhorrent conditions" that had "devastating effects on the economy and on family livelihoods".
The new envoy of the Quartet of Middle East peace negotiators, ex-UK Prime Minister Tony Blair, told donors their pledges would be "indispensable" to the creation of a Palestinian state.
The biggest pledges came from the European Union and US, which promised $650m and $555m respectively.The biggest pledges came from the European Union and US, which promised $650m and $555m respectively.
'Indispensable' pledges US Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice and Russian Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov are also attending the conference.
The new envoy of the Quartet of Middle East peace negotiators, former UK Prime Minister Tony Blair, told donors: "What we pledge today will be indispensable to the creation of that [Palestinian] state."
US Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice, UN Secretary General Ban Ki-moon and Russian Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov are also attending the conference near the Arc de Triomphe.
It is the biggest gathering of its kind since 1996.It is the biggest gathering of its kind since 1996.
French President Nicolas Sarkozy opened Monday's talks by calling for an international force to be set up at a future date to help bolster the Palestinian security services. The French president opened the talks, calling for an international force to be set up to help bolster the Palestinian security services.
Gaza is dependent on aid from the international community class="" href="/1/hi/world/middle_east/7138910.stm">Mechanics of peace talks class="" href="/1/hi/world/middle_east/7126541.stm">Analysis: After Annapolis November's Annapolis talks saw Israel and the Palestinians relaunch negotiations stalled for seven years.
November's Annapolis talks saw Israel and the Palestinians relaunch negotiations that had been frozen for seven years and agree to seek a peace deal before the end of 2008.
But the worsening economic crisis in the West Bank and Gaza Strip threatens to undermine the declared aim of creating a Palestinian state within the next 12 months.
The World Bank and several aid organisations have said that until Israel lifts its system of restrictions on the movement of Palestinian people and goods, giving more money will not rebuild the Palestinians' economy.The World Bank and several aid organisations have said that until Israel lifts its system of restrictions on the movement of Palestinian people and goods, giving more money will not rebuild the Palestinians' economy.
But many analysts fear that unless Washington is ready to take a much tougher line with the Israeli government, then even a limited economic upturn in the West Bank may prove impossible to achieve.
'Turbulence'
As she made her way to Paris, the US secretary of state told reporters: "There is an assumption here that there is not going to be turbulence in this process. There is."
Palestinian Prime Minister Salam Fayyad has said he wants 70% of the aid to go directly to slashing his huge budget deficit.
He is also presenting a three-year reform plan, with pledges to slash government spending by trimming the bloated public payroll.
The Palestinian development plan formally also includes Gaza, but analysts say most of the aid is expected to go to the West Bank, which is controlled by the Palestinian president.
Gaza has been virtually cut off from the world since Mr Abbas's rivals in the Islamic militant group Hamas seized control of the territory by force in June.