RAMALLAH: Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas is making a heavy push for reconciliation with Hamas and is willing to give up hundreds of millions of dollars in US aid if that's what it takes to forge a Palestinian unity deal, a top aide said Monday. The comments were the latest sign that Abbas is giving up on stalled peace talks with Israel and prefers to pursue unity with Gaza's Hamas rulers as he makes a push toward independence. “Of course we need the American money. But if they use it as a way of pressuring us, we are ready to relinquish that aid,” said Azzam Ahmed, an Abbas aide. The US administration, the largest single donor to the Palestinians, withheld funds when Hamas was a part of a short-lived unity Palestinian government. The Palestinian Authority is heavily reliant on foreign aid and forgoing the funds could easily spark its own crisis. The Palestinian unity government collapsed during a five-day civil war in 2007 that ended with the Islamic militant group seizing power in the Gaza Strip. Since then, the Palestinians have been divided between rival governments in the West Bank and Gaza, the two territories they hope to turn into an independent state. With peace talks stalled since September, Abbas has begun an effort to win international recognition of Palestine, with or without an agreement with Israel. That effort is to culminate at the United Nations in September.
