The Ministry of Social Development in the Gaza Strip on Saturday published on its website the names of Palestinian beneficiaries of Qatari cash grants.
Palestinians whose names appear on the ministry’s list have been asked to head to the post offices in the Hamas-ruled coastal enclave on Sunday to receive the cash.
The Qatari Committee for the Construction of the Gaza Strip, headed by Mohammed Elamadi, announced on Friday that it has nearly doubled the number of beneficiaries – from 60,000 two months ago to 100,000 poor families.
Each family will receive $100 in cash.
The announcement came shortly after Elamadi arrived in the Gaza Strip early Friday through the Erez border crossing with Israel.
Sunday’s distribution of the grants will be the seventh since Qatar began delivering millions of dollars in cash to the Gaza Strip last year.
The Qatari envoy said that the increase in the number of beneficiaries of the cash assistance grant this month “comes within the framework of easing the suffering people of the Gaza Strip in light of the difficult humanitarian conditions they are living, particularly on the eve of the beginning of the new academic year for school and university students.
The distribution of the funds is expected to continue for several days.
On Friday evening, Elamadi met in Gaza City with senior Hamas leaders and discussed with them the Qatari funds and the ceasefire understandings reached between Hamas and Israel under the auspices of Egypt, Qatar and the United Nations. The Hamas officials who attended the meeting included Ismail Haniyeh, Yahya Sinwar, Rouhi Mushtaha and Khalil al-Haya.
A Qatari official said that his kingdom’s decision to continue delivering cash grants to the Gaza Strip was in the context of an effort to prevent an all-out military confrontation between Israel and Hamas. “We are aware that such a confrontation will bring extensive damage to the residents of the Gaza Strip,” the official said. “We will do everything we can to avoid total destruction in the Gaza Strip.”
The official said that Qatar was worried in wake of mounting tensions between Israel and Hamas after several recent attempts by terrorists to infiltrate into Israel. The Qatari envoy will continue to work with Israel and Hamas to prevent war and improve the security and humanitarian situation in the Gaza Strip, the official added.