Members of the Quartet (European Union, United States, the United Nations and Russia) agreed on Tuesday on an “international mechanism” to directly transfer funds to the Palestinians. This channeling of aid will be a three-month trial period. United States Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice said she was concerned about the situation because while governments don’t want to see Palestinians suffer, they don’t want to deal with a government responsible for terror attacks. The US announced that it would transfer $10 million to the PA as part of a health care program. The European Union suggested transferring funds directly to Palestinian Authority Chairman Mahmoud Abbas in order to bypass Hamas and serve humanitarian needs.