Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas has urged foreign donors to lift threats to cut vital aid to the new Hamas-led Palestinian government.
During talks in Ramallah with German Chancellor Angela Merkel, Abbas stressed that despite Hamas's victory, the Palestinians under his leadership remain committed to eventual peace talks and stand by all agreements with Israel.
"I stressed the importance of the continuation of financial and other types of support by the donor countries," Abbas told a news conference. He said such aid was vital for the plan of building a peaceful Palestinian state alongside Israel.
Abbas dismissed suggestions he could resign if his agenda for peacemaking was blocked.
In Brussels, the European Union's external relations commissioner said the EU did not want the Palestinian Authority to collapse.
Benita Ferrero-Waldner told reporters a World Bank mission would visit the Palestinian territories in early February to assess the needs of the Authority, which has warned of an imminent cash crunch.
A draft text to be studied by EU foreign ministers today said the 25-nation bloc was ready to continue aid to the Palestinians but wants to see a Hamas-led government commit itself to seeking peace with Israel.
US Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice said before meeting other members of the Middle East peace-broking Quartet that her country could not give direct aid to a Hamas-led government, but promised to consider the humanitarian needs of the Palestinian people on a case-by-case basis.
"You have to recognise Israel's right to exist, you have to renounce violence and terrorism. You can't with one hand talk about peace with Israel and on the other hand countenance suicide bombers," she told a news conference in London.