What happened in the Palestinian areas according to the news item?

The new U.S. commitment of emergency medical aid came amid reports of [26]worsening humanitarian conditions in the Palestinian areas, and pressure from other Quartet members for action to ease the Palestinian Authority’s financial crisis. But in a talk with reporters in between morning and afternoon Quartet meetings, Secretary Rice insisted again that the economic dilemma is of the Hamas-led Palestinian government’s own making, [27]because it has spurned calls from the Quartet and others to accept international terms for Middle East peacemaking.