By Suleiman al-Khalidi AMMAN, Dec 12 (Reuters) - Growing poverty among Palestinians since the West imposed sanctions on the Hamas-led government could radicalise unemployed youths and destabilise the region, a senior U.N. official said on Tuesday. Filippo Grandi, deputy commissioner general of the United Nations Relief and Work Agency for Palestine Refugees (UNRWA), said the political repercussions of a worsening humanitarian crisis were alarming. "Impoverishment, especially if it is perceived as a politically motivated impoverishment, can easily lead to radicalisation," Grandi told Reuters on the sidelines of an annual donors meeting in Amman. "Political radicalisation is a risk for the stability of this region and the stability of the world," he said. UNRWA, which is in charge of assistance to Palestinian refugees, launched an appeal on Tuesday for $246 million in emergency funds. The United States and European Union imposed crippling sanctions on the Palestinian Authority in March because of Hamas' refusal to recognise Israel, although the EU also set up a temporary mechanism bypassing the Hamas-led government to channel funds for Palestinians' basic needs. The boycott is aimed at pressuring Hamas to recognise Israel, renounce violence and accept interim peace deals. An UNRWA statement said living conditions among Palestinians had slumped to levels not seen since 1967, adding the crisis deepened dramatically this year, in part due to the international isolation of the Palestinian Authority. Grandi said a majority of Palestinians now depended on cash handouts for survival. About 1.4 million Palestinians live in coastal Gaza and 2.4 million in the occupied West Bank. "Unbearable economic pressure has been applied to a people under occupation," Grandi said. " ... by putting this type of pressure the risk is that violence would increase rather than decrease. That is my concern." On top of the Western sanctions, Palestinians say Israeli settlements, military checkpoints and a barrier cutting into the West Bank have also hit their economy because they seal off towns from workplaces, schools and agricultural fields. Israel says the barrier and checkpoints are needed to prevent militant attacks. In Gaza, residents say Israel's frequent closures of the strip's border crossings have paralysed life. Israel says it imposes the measures for security reasons. As a result of the economic deterioration, educated and wealthy Palestinians are leaving in search of a better life abroad, leaving the less privileged behind, Grandi said. "If a community of ... impoverished people are under political pressure this is a dangerous proposition in terms of regional stability," he said.
