A senior Qatari official said on Monday in Doha that Israel's reluctance to pay its dues is responsible for the worsening living conditions of Palestinians, the official Kuwait News Agency (KUNA) reported.

Ahmad Bin Abdullah al-Mahmoud, Qatari Minister of State for Foreign Affairs, made the remarks at the opening of the two-day International Forum for Assistance to the Palestinian People.

Palestinian economic and social conditions have been dropped to "very low standards", said the official, who attributed it specifically to "economic siege and restrictions on the movement of the Palestinians."

Al-Mahmoud blamed the Israeli government for halting remitting tax dues as well as financial assistance promised to the Palestinians ever since Hamas won the general elections in Palestine last year.

The weakest sections of the Palestinian society, including women, children and the elderly were suffering the most, he pointed out, adding that living conditions of those people were drastically worsening.

The forum is designed to assess such deteriorating conditions in order to prompt all international parties concerned, including the UN organizations and donor states and groups, to do what they can to alleviate Palestinian hardship, the Qatari minister said.

According to KUNA, the International Forum for Assistance to the Palestinian People has been a regular annual event since 1993 and has been held in Europe or the Middle East respectively.

Source: Xinhua