Qatar to start distributing financial aid to families in the Gaza Strip

A Palestinian official has revealed that the Palestinian Authority and Qatar have reached an agreement, under "Israeli approval", to allocate part of the aid allocated by Qatar to poor families in the Gaza Strip.

According to statements to Al-Shraq, "an agreement was reached between the Palestinian Authority, represented by Social Development Minister Ahmed Majdalani, and the Qatari ambassador, Muhammad Al-Emadi, to transfer part of the Qatari grant to poor families in Gaza, through the Ministry of Social Development".

The official went on to state that "the Palestinian Authority is currently in talks with the banks to facilitate this process", noting that "there are some questions and reservations on the part of the entities" and that the Authority is "working to provide guarantees that there are no judicial consequences for this". 

He stressed that "the agreement would not have been completed without the approval of Israel and the US administration", and noted that the new mechanism "provides a comfortable solution for the different parties: Qatar, Hamas and Israel".

In this agreement, "Qatar provided the Palestinian Authority with lists of the names of the families to benefit from the grant, after they were vetted and approved by the Israeli side, to open personal accounts in the name of each of them in Palestinian banks operating in the Gaza Strip". 

Qatar has become one of the leading countries in the Gaza Strip's reconstruction plans after allocating $30 million a month to the area. These funds were sent through Israel's Ben Gurion International Airport and from there made their way to the Gaza Strip via Israel's Erez crossing. In this regard, part of this money, in particular $10 million, had been earmarked for fuel for the electricity company operating in the Strip and another part of the total, some $7 million, was earmarked for employees of the Hamas administration. The remainder, according to Qatar, was to go to poor families. 

The new Israeli government decided to stop this mechanism, arguing that some of the money was going to Hamas. In the face of the Israeli refusal, the parties agreed to transfer the portion of the grant allocated to needy families through the Palestinian Authority. In this vein, Israel had decided to stop transferring funds from Qatar to the Strip since the Israeli-Palestinian military attacks of the past months. In this regard, it allowed only part of the Qatari funds to be used for the supply of fuel in the Strip.

Palestinian officials expressed satisfaction with the agreement, saying the understanding "strengthens Palestinian jurisdiction over the Gaza Strip". However, they noted that there is one final hurdle that is being bypassed, which is approval by banking institutions and ensuring that they are not prosecuted in the future. 

Last May, Qatar announced the approval of $500 million in reconstruction aid for Gaza. Foreign Minister Sheikh Mohamed bin Abdelrahman Al Thani announced via Twitter that "following the instructions of His Majesty Sheikh Tamim bin Hamad Al Thani, Emir of Qatar, the State announces $500 million (about 410 million euros) in support for the reconstruction of Gaza", and that they will continue to "support our brothers in Palestine to achieve a just and lasting solution through the establishment of an independent state", he added.

In this framework, it is not the first time that Qatar has offered its assistance to the destitute families in Gaza as in the last year the banks had distributed several times such grants to tens of thousands of families in need of humanitarian aid. In addition, since 2018, Qatar has earmarked millions of dollars every month to try to pay for fuel for Gaza's only power plant, in addition to supporting other projects.

According to a UN report, 53 per cent of Palestinians living in Gaza are living in poverty. Of this population, 80% is dependent on international aid, according to the UN Relief and Works Agency, the main international organisation providing health, education and other services to Palestinian refugees.