TOKYO, April 18 (RIA Novosti, Andrei Fesyun) - Japan said Tuesday it will suspend aid to the Hamas-led Palestinian government until it is satisfied the radical Islamist movement is committed to the Middle East peace process.
Akira Chiba, assistant press secretary at the Japanese Foreign Ministry, said Japan had given $840 million to the Palestinians since 1993, but would now provide only humanitarian aid, if the need arose.
"Our stance is that we want to see whether Hamas will adopt peaceful measures and participate in the peace process," Chiba said.
Chiba said Japan had decided in March to give the Palestinian government $6 million in food aid through international organizations. He said that in order for Japan to resume full-scale assistance to the Palestinians, Hamas must give up armed confrontation with Israel.
"Hamas clearly has a hostile policy towards Israel, so if that does not change we will not be in a situation where we can offer aid," said Chiba, adding that Japan had set out no specific terms.
Hamas won the Palestinian parliamentary elections on January 29 and subsequently formed a government that has come into conflict with U.S.-backed President Mahmoud Abbas.
A suicide bomber on Monday killed at least nine people in Tel Aviv and injured several others in the first Palestinian terrorist attack since Hamas took office.
The Palestinian economy has been shattered by the decades-long Palestinian fight for statehood, and is largely dependent on Western aid. The United States and the European Union have frozen aid to the Hamas-led government until Hamas complies with their demands to recognize Israel, denounce violence and abide by interim peace accords.
