Qatar Delivers $20 Million Cash Infusion to Gaza, to Aid Over 100,000 Families

A Qatari delegation delivered $20 million in cash to the Strip on Sunday evening which is expected to be given to some 108,000 Gazan families as aid on Monday, sources in the enclave told Haaretz.

Each family will receive $100 dollars that will be handed out at local branches of the postal bank. The rest of the money will be used to pay for electricity and humanitarian projects.

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The money will be distributed according to the agreement reached in January, with each of the families receiving a total of $400 in four installments. Qatari envoy Mohammed Al-Emadi headed the delegation to Gaza, along with his deputy Khaled al-Khardan.

Hamas and the Qatari delegation have not yet commented on the transfer of funds.

Also Monday, Hamas has announced new measures to support low-income families, improve electricity infrastructure, expand imports and exports and ensure unemployed university graduates find work.

Qatar’s envoy “is very helpful in implementing understandings to lift the blockade,” the organization said.

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Earlier in the morning, media in Gaza reported that Hamas fired at an Israel Defense Forces unit that entered the Gaza Strip. According to reports, the force had only gone 100 meters into the enclave near Khan Yunis and retreated after being fired at. No injuries were reported.

Last Thursday, the IDF attacked Hamas targets in Gaza after a rocket fired from the Gaza Strip hit a school in the southern Israeli town of Sderot. The night before, a rocket was launched from Gaza into Israel, which was the first rocket since a cease-fire agreement was reached with groups in Gaza in early May. The rocket was intercepted by the Iron Dome missile defense system.

In retaliation an Israeli aircraft targeted underground facilities in a Hamas military compound in the southern Gaza Strip, the IDF Spokesman’s Office said.