...The Palestinian Authority has received much of its budget support from the European Union and the United States, with oil-rich Arab countries lagging in supplying the amounts they had pledged. The situation has become even more acute this year, Palestinian sources said, as the Palestinian Authority has embarked on a two-year effort to build the governmental institutions needed for statehood.

Clinton raised the question of aid to the Palestinians directly with the emir of Qatar during a lengthy meeting Tuesday, according to State Department spokesman P.J. Crowley. She did encourage Qatar to make a contribution and to encourage others to do as well, he said.

Qatar, where some top officials of the militant group Hamas own homes, cut off all funding to the Palestinian Authority after Hamas seized exclusive control of the Gaza Strip in 2007 and a power-sharing agreement with the Fatah movement collapsed. Qatar had briefly increased its contributions when Hamas was in the government, after years of providing little or no money...