WASHINGTON, April 11, 2012 (WAFA) – The international Quartet on Middle East peace called following its meeting in Washington on Wednesday for continued financial aid to the Palestinian Authority in the amount of $1.1 billion for 2012.

A statement issued following a meeting for the Quartet principals - United Nations Secretary General Ban Ki-moon, Russian Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov, United States Secretary of State Hillary Clinton and European Union foreign policy chief Catherine Ashton – urged donor countries to help the Palestinians overcome their financial crisis.

The Quartet “underscored the need for continued international support for the Palestinian Authority’s important institution-building efforts,” said the statement.

“The Quartet encouraged the Palestinian Authority to continue working toward this end. In this regard, the Quartet called on the international community to ensure the contribution of $1.1 billion in assistance to meet the Palestinian Authority’s 2012 recurrent financing requirements,” it added.

The Quartet urged the Palestinians and Israelis to resolve as soon as possible outstanding issues related to tax and customs revenue collection.

Israel collects every month around $100 million in taxes and customs on good destined to the Palestinian Territory, which the Palestinian Authority uses mainly to pay salaries and other expenses. Israel often threatens to suspend transfer of these funds to punish the PA for any act it undertakes to the dislike of Israel.

The Quartet also “noted with concern the increasing fragility of developments on the ground and called on the parties to work constructively together to take concrete steps to address the Palestinian Authority’s fiscal challenges, preserve and build on the Palestinian Authority’s institutional gains, and expand economic opportunities for the Palestinian people.”

It reaffirmed its commitment “to examine possible mechanisms it can actively support going forward, individually and together, to advance peace efforts and strengthen the Palestinian Authority’s ability to meet the full range of civil and security needs of the Palestinian people both now and in a future state.”

The statement said that the Quartet “encouraged the parties, in this context, to cooperate to facilitate the social and economic development of Area C, which is of critical importance for the viability of a future Palestinian state as well as for its Palestinian inhabitants to be enabled to lead a normal life.”

It said, “Noting the significant progress on security achieved by the Palestinian Authority in the West Bank, the Quartet calls on the Palestinian Authority to continue to make every effort to improve law and order, to fight violent extremism, and to end incitement,” and “emphasized the need to continue assisting the Palestinian Authority in building its law enforcement capacity.”

The Quartet also “expressed its concern over ongoing settler violence and incitement in the West Bank and calls on Israel to take effective measures, including bringing the perpetrators of such acts to justice.”

The Quartet, which was joined by Jordan’s Foreign Minister Nasser Judeh, who briefed the Quartet on Jordan’s engagement in the peace talks, reiterated its call on the parties “to avoid actions that undermine trust and to focus on positive efforts that can strengthen and improve the climate for a resumption of direct negotiations on the basis of the Quartet’s September 23 statement.”

It “expressed concern about unilateral and provocative actions by either party, including continued settlement activity, which cannot prejudge the outcome of negotiations, the only way to a just and durable solution to the conflict.”

The Quartet condemned rocket attacks from Gaza and stressed the need for calm and security for both peoples.

It also “underscored the importance of continued steps to address the needs of Gaza’s residents, and welcomed the Israeli Government’s approval at the AHLC meeting of UN priority infrastructure projects in Gaza.”

The statement said that “reaffirming its previous positions, the Quartet considers that the situation in and around Gaza remains fragile and unsustainable as long as the West Bank and Gaza are not reunited under the legitimate Palestinian Authority adhering to the PLO commitments.”

M.S.