The UN Special Envoy to the Middle East announced that the international organization will begin distributing cash assistance to thousands of poor families in the Gaza Strip, which is governed by the Islamic Resistance Movement (Hamas), on Monday, under a program funded by Qatar. Qatar has provided Gaza with hundreds of millions of dollars since the war that occurred in 2014 between Hamas and Israel. However, another round of fighting in May led to demands from Israel and the United States to review the payments to ensure they do not reach Hamas. These payments have been halted since then.
A UN official stated that under a modified funding plan coordinated between Qatar and the UN and approved by Israel, funds will be distributed through more than 700 distribution points throughout the Gaza Strip. Tor Wennesland, the UN Envoy to the Middle East, tweeted on Sunday that about 100,000 beneficiaries will begin receiving cash assistance on Monday. Officials have not disclosed how the distribution points will be monitored, or whether any monitoring will be implemented at all, to ensure funds do not reach Hamas.
Qatar was also supposed to provide assistance to employees in government ministries run by Hamas under an agreement with banks controlled by the Western-backed Palestinian Authority. However, the Palestinian Authority withdrew from the agreement to provide Qatari funding to the sector due to concerns that participation could expose it to legal issues. The West considers Hamas a terrorist organization.
The Qatari funding plan has received support from Israel, with Prime Minister Naftali Bennett stating on Monday that it would ensure the funds reach those in need without passing through Hamas. According to Bennett's office, the payments will be made in the form of coupons, not cash, as previously stated by the UN official. Bennett’s office stated, “The transfer of the Qatari grant to those in need in the Gaza Strip has been arranged through a mechanism involving the UN, where the grant will be passed through coupons instead of bags carrying cash as it was before.”
In response to a question about this discrepancy, Bennett's office refrained from commenting. The office stated that officials are still working to find a mechanism to distribute funds to civil servants without financing Hamas's military activities. Israel and Egypt maintain a blockade on Gaza citing threats from Hamas. The World Bank states that the restrictions have contributed to rising unemployment and poverty rates in the enclave, home to two million Palestinians.
