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2006–07 economic sanctions against the Palestinian National Authority


The 2006–07 economic sanctions against the Palestinian National Authority were economic sanctions imposed by Israel and the United States against the Palestinian National Authority (PA) and the Palestinian territories, and the suspension of international aid to Palestinians, following the January 2006 legislative elections that brought Hamas to power.

Israel imposed sanctions on the Palestinians and suspended the transfer of the taxes it collected on behalf of the PA. The US also imposed economic sanctions and prohibited all Hamas-related financial transactions. The Middle East Quartet called for reviewing all assistance to any new government against its commitment to the principles of nonviolence, recognition of Israel, and acceptance of previous agreements and obligations. As a result, the international community suspended its international aid to the Palestinians, causing big damage to the Palestinian economy. Eventually, aid was diverted via a Temporary International Mechanism or directly to the accounts of President Mahmoud Abbas, bypassing the Hamas-led Palestinian Authority.

After the formation of an emergency government by Abbas, international aid to the Ramallah-based PA was resumed, but the Hamas-led government in Gaza remained boycotted. The US and Israel lifted sanctions against the Abbas government.

The United States had spent $2.3 million in USAID on support for the Palestinian elections, allegedly designed to bolster the image of President Abbas and his Fatah party.

Following Hamas' electoral victory in the January 2006 Palestinian Authority legislative elections, the Middle East Quartet (United States, Russia, United Nations, and European Union) on 30 January 2006 issued a statement, saying that "It is the view of the Quartet that all members of a future Palestinian government must be committed to nonviolence, recognition of Israel, and acceptance of previous agreements and obligations, including the Roadmap," and concluded that it was inevitable that future assistance to any new government would be reviewed by donors against that government's commitment to those principles, which Hamas rejected.


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