Washington, MAY 25, SPA -- American officials told Congress Wednesday in a hearing on U.S. aid to the Palestinians that the internecine fighting in Gaza between Hamas and Fatah loyalists is proof of the need to support Mahmoud Abbas and other moderates. David Welch, the U.S. Assistant Secretary of State for Near Eastern Affairs, told lawmakers that Abbas is facing a serious challenge from Hamas supporters, who seek to destroy the American ally s credibility and cement its hold on power in Gaza and all of Palestine. Welch said that he intends to seek about $27 million in unspent funds to bolster Abbas. General Keith Dayton, the Security Coordinator to the Middle East, agreed with Welch, saying that the fighting in Gaza has eroded the security and economic situation in Gaza and the Palestinian territories, essentially making the area a failed state, the kind of area to which terrorists groups such as al Qaeda tend to flock. Dayton said that cannot be allowed to happen, expressing some hope that the new U.S. aid program to the Palestinians approved last month by Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice will be able to eventually stabilize the area. He pointed to a few recent incidents of Abbas s Presidential Guard being able to fend off attacks by Hamas forces as a sign that, with American backing, the moderate Palestinians will be able to hold their own. While Welch and Dayton stressed the need to continue backing one side in the low-grade Palestinian civil war, critics in Congress pointed out that, in effect, the United States is exacerbating it by strengthening Fatah to the point that it could genuinely challenge Hamas. But Dayton said that Hamas intends to destroy Israel, and is a real threat to peace in the long-term. Right now, however, Dayton said the situation in Gaza had descended to the point of anarchy. --SPA www.spa.gov.sa/452903