Amid increasing international isolation, the terrorist group Hamas that won Palestinian elections beating Fattah, the infighting-ridden party of Yaseer Arafat, was sworn into office moderate President Mahmoud Abbas. Starting from making ends meet, the 24-member cabinet including 1 woman and 1 Christian has its work cut out as a majority of the revenue for Palestinian Territories (PT) comes from international aid.

Western countries that donate the most for PT have decided to suspend all non-humanitarian aid. Israel has imposed sanctions suspending the transfer of customs revenue bound for PT. Iran has been actively campaigning for an Islamic aid package but that has not taken off. Interestingly, Canada, which rarely has independent foreign policy, suspended its diplomatic relations and aid package to PT.