The Obama administration, like the Bush administration, will not give the money to Hamas. However, with even the UNRWA halting aid to Gaza after Hamas kept stealing it, what safeguards will the U.S. have that this near-billion will not go to Hamas also? None whatsoever.
“U.S. to Give $900 Million in Gaza Aid, Officials Say,” by Helene Cooper for the New York Times, February 23 (thanks to all who sent this in):
WASHINGTON “” The Obama administration intends to provide some $900 million to help rebuild Gaza after the Israeli incursion that ended last month, administration officials said Monday.
In an early sign of how the administration plans to deal with Hamas, the militant Islamist group that controls Gaza, an official said that the aid would not go to Hamas but that it would be funneled through nongovernmental organizations.
By seeking to aid Gazans but not Hamas, the administration is following the lead of the Bush administration, which sent money to Gaza through nongovernmental organizations. In December, it said it would give $85 million to the United Nations agency that provides aid to Palestinian refugees in the West Bank, Gaza, Jordan, Lebanon and Syria.
The United States considers Hamas a terrorist organization, and the Bush administration refused to have any formal dealings with the group….