Qatari funds, delayed by disputes for a fortnight, reach Gaza families
NEARLY $10 million in Qatari funds was distributed on Saturday to needy families in Gaza, each of which received $100 (£76) two weeks after the original planned date.
The delay was because of ongoing disputes between Hamas, the Palestinian Authority and Israel.
Despite an agreement to distribute the Qatari aid through humanitarian projects in the future and not through Hamas’s local administration, a senior Hamas member warned on Tuesday that “Gaza would not surrender to the Israeli siege and the sanctions of [Mahmoud] Abbas.”
The Israeli pressure on Hamas was an attempt to get the Islamist movement to rein in the violent demonstrations each Friday on the Gaza border. Government sources also said Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu did not want to be seen as “paying off” Hamas during the election period.
Demonstrations on the border have continued over the past fortnight, although Israeli security sources maintain the level of violence has reduced.
But there is concern among some Israelis, now the Qatari funds have gone through, that Hamas may choose to escalate matters once again. Such a move would in part be an attempt to ward off fresh pressure from the Palestinian Authority, where Prime Minister Rami Hamdallah has been forced to tender his resignation under criticism that he has not applied the sanctions on Hamas rigorously enough.
In preparation for possible escalation, the IDF has deployed additional Iron Dome missile defence batteries in the south and around the Tel Aviv area.