The Palestinian Authority has walked away from an agreement to transfer Qatari aid money to public servants in the Gaza Strip, Mohammad al-Emadi, chairman of the Qatari Committee for the Reconstruction of Gaza, announced on Friday.
“The Palestinian Authority has withdrawn from the agreement recently concluded between it and the Qatari Committee regarding the disbursement of the grant for employees,” al-Emadi said in a statement.
The PA decision is related only to salaries of public servants, and not to needy families in the Gaza Strip, Palestinian sources clarified.
The PA decision is seen as a blow to Egyptian, Qatari and United Nations efforts to reach a long-term truce between Israel and Hamas.
Al-Emadi said the PA informed him of its decision not to transfer the funds through banks belonging to the Palestinian Monetary Authority, despite recent understandings.
According to al-Emadi, the decision came in spite of the fact that Qatar had already transferred the funds to the PA.
The PA’s justification for the retraction was fear that the banks would be exposed to lawsuits and accusations of supporting terrorism, he revealed.
“The Qatari committee is currently working to solve the problem and find an alternative way to disburse the grant,” he added.
Last week the Qatari official announced that all procedures related to the disbursement of the Qatari funds to needy families in the Gaza Strip had been completed in agreement with the PA and the UN.
He said the funds will be disbursed in coordination with the PA during the coming days and in agreement with the various parties.
The agreement, he said, came after a series of intensive meetings with all parties regarding stabilizing a state of calm in the Gaza Strip.
“These meetings achieved positive results that will serve as the basis for all issues related to improving the living conditions of the residents of the Gaza Strip, in full coordination with the United Nations and the Palestinian Authority, and in agreement with all parties,” al-Emadi said. “These results will have a clear positive impact on improving the situation in the Gaza Strip.”
Last month Qatar announced an agreement with the UN to transfer the aid money to poor families in the Hamas-ruled coastal enclave.
The deal includes a mechanism for distributing the cash aid grant provided by Qatar to about 100,000 families through the UN and its World Food Program.