Palestinian Prime Minister Ismail Haniyeh said Friday that the suspension of Western aid to the cash-strapped Palestinian Authority would not bring down his Hamas-led government nor cow the Palestinian people. "The Palestinian people will not give up their government no matter how many sacrifices we have to make. We are prepared to eat salt and olives," he told hundreds of supporters at an open-air mosque in the Jebaliya refugee camp in northern Gaza.Western nations cut funding to the Palestinian Authority after Hamas won Palestinian parliamentary elections in January and formed a Cabinet last month. Hamas, which calls for Israel's destruction and is listed as a terror group by the U.S. and European Union, has refused to meet Western demands to renounce violence and recognize Israel's right to exist. Israel has also suspended the transfer of about US$50 million (€41.34 million) in monthly taxes it collects on behalf of the Palestinian government.
Hamas has acknowledged it is broke and will have trouble paying the salaries of 140,000 government workers, payments that sustain one-third of the Palestinians. The March paychecks are two weeks overdue, and the Palestinian finance minister has said he is still tens of millions of dollars short of covering the payroll. Haniyeh said his government inherited an empty treasury and US$700 million (€580 million) in debt from the previous Cabinet led by President Mahmoud Abbas' moderate Fatah Party.