Qatar resumed aid distribution to the Gaza Strip for the first time since the escalation of violence between Israel and Hamas in May. The official Hamas-run state news agency said the aid was being disbursed through supermarkets, currency exchange shops and other retail stores over the coming days.
Qatar’s envoy to Gaza, Mohammed el-Amadi, on Wednesday (15/9) confirmed aid delivery had resumed. The United Nations (UN) put the aid funds amounting to 40 million US dollars.
Aljazirah reported that the aid was not sent in dollars as it used to be. The aid will be sent in shekels, amounting to 320 shekels.
Qatar has donated hundreds of millions of dollars to Gaza since Israel’s attack on the Gaza Strip in 2014. Prior to the escalation in May between Israel and Hamas, Qatari diplomats sent millions of dollars in cash in suitcases through the Beit Hanoun border crossing, or Erez as Israel calls it.
The delivery of the cash aid has sparked controversy in Israel. They criticized and accused the Qatari government of being too submissive to Hamas pressure.
Israeli Prime Minister Naftali Bennett vowed to end the delivery of the cash aid since becoming prime minister in June. Qatari aid has previously been given to thousands of poor families and to pay the salaries of civil servants in Gaza’s government. Assistance to families has continued, but there has been no agreement on aid for Hamas government salaries.
After renewed fighting between Israel and Hamas in May, the US pledged to work with the internationally recognized Palestinian Authority (PA) to rebuild Gaza. But the PA, which administers parts of the Israeli-occupied West Bank, withdrew from the aid agreement. Accordingly, the United Nations announced Qatar’s cash transfers would be distributed through the mechanisms its agencies use in the region.
(NFL)
