ANTHONY BROOKS, host:
Israel's military fired missiles and sent tanks into Gaza today in a deadly attack on Hamas militants that killed four Palestinians. Hamas took control of that coastal territory last week. That led Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas to dissolve the government that his Fatah Party shared with Hamas.
MADELEINE BRAND, host:
Now, Israel's government is reaching out with diplomacy and money to Abbas and his new government. It's an effort to isolate Hamas.
BROOKS: And that's an effort that President Bush has also embraced. The U.S. has resumed aid and full government contacts with the Palestinian authority, and Washington is now prepared to release some $86 million in aid to Palestine.
BRAND: But what chance does the new approach have of creating an independent Palestinian state alongside Israel? And how does the aid get directed to the administration of Mahmoud Abbas and not slip into the hands of Hamas in Gaza?
BROOKS: To answer these questions, we turn to C. David Welch, who is assistant secretary of state for Near Eastern Affairs.
Mr. C. DAVID WELCH (Assistant Secretary of State for Near Eastern Affairs): The Hamas terrorist movement - which had a piece of the national unity government among the Palestinians - took over Gaza. In response to that, essentially a military coup, President Abbas voided the government, fired it, and established an emergency rule and appointed a new Prime Minister, Salam Fayyad. This gentleman is a respected international figure. He's been minister of finance before in Palestinian governments, and was a minister in the previous national unity government. And we have a lot of confidence in his ability to manage any money that come into the Palestinians from outside. So we're pretty sure that we could set this up in a way that has appropriate safeguards.
BROOKS: Let me ask you more generally about this territorial split that you refer to right now, between Hamas and Fatah. Does this deal a serious blow to efforts to create an independent Palestinian state?
Mr. WELCH: In every challenge, there can be opportunity, and the question is can we work together with our partners in the region, in the international community with moderate Palestinians, with Israelis to see if we can get something going here that might benefit all Palestinians?
BROOKS: And, in a sense, though, you, sort of, have a two-state solution now. It's not really the one that you intended to have, but there are, sort of, two Palestinian states now.
Mr. WELCH: Well, I would argue that they're not. I would argue that there are - there is only one prospective state. There is only one Palestinian people, and we're not going to divide them. There are two areas of what comprised the Palestinian territories, one of which is fully in Palestinian hands -unfortunately the wrong hands - that's called Gaza. The West Bank remains to be negotiated between Israel and the Palestinians.
BROOKS: Is there a danger, though - and this gets to a point made by Robert Malley, who wrote this in the Washington Post yesterday - that favoring the West Bank, favoring Mahmoud Abbas right now will likely backfire in that it will divide Palestinians, further radicalize Gaza, provoke more violence rather than bringing us closer to a solution.
Mr. WELCH: I know Rob Malley and I respect his views. And sure, there's lots of different options for how to proceed. But I think the premise here is maybe wrong. I mean, we're not giving up on Gaza. I mean, no one has said that Gaza, for example, belongs to Israel. It belongs to the Palestinians, and it will be part of a Palestinian state in the future when it's created. But the question of, you know, who is going to be in charge on the ground there has now been decided by, in effect, a coup - this unfortunate militaristic band in Hamas that decided that, you know, that was a better course for them. Well it's not a better course for the Palestinian people.
BROOKS: C. David Welch is, assistant secretary of state for Near Eastern Affairs, thanks very much for talking to us. We appreciate it.
Mr. WELCH: Thank you, Mr. Brooks.
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