GAZA CITY, Gaza Strip — As the dust began to settle May 6 from a major military escalation between Israel and the Gaza Strip, Qatari Emir Tamim bin Hamad Al Thani promised $480 million in grants and loans to Palestinians.
The financial support was coupled with UN, Egyptian and Qatari diplomatic efforts to halt the brief but bitter exchange. The battle broke out May 3 and subsided May 6, leaving 31 Palestinians dead and 130 residential units in Gaza destroyed. Four Israelis were killed, and dozens were injured by rockets fired into southern Israel.
The Qatari Foreign Ministry said in a May 6 statement, “The State of Qatar has allocated $300 million in grants and loans to support the health and education budget of the Palestinian Authority [PA], and $180 million to provide urgent humanitarian relief support for the UN programs in Palestine and support electricity services to ensure access to the various sectors of the Palestinian people, especially during the holy month of Ramadan, and to meet the summer season in which electricity is increasingly needed.”
Qatar’s promise came a few days after UN Middle East Envoy Nikolay Mladinov’s visit May 2 to Doha and after May 5 phone deliberations between Hamas politburo head Ismail Haniyeh and Qatari Foreign Minister Mohammed bin Abdulrahman Al Thani. On May 7, the latter met with Palestinian Minister of Finance Shukri Bechara and Hussein al-Sheikh, a member of the Fatah Central Committee in Doha.
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