Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu said Monday that allowing Qatari funds to be transferred into Gaza was part of a broader strategy to keep Hamas and the Palestinian Authority divided, preventing the establishment of a Palestinian state.
Netanyahu explained that, in the past, the PA transferred the millions of dollars to Hamas in Gaza, a source in Monday’s Likud faction told the Jerusalem Post.
He argued that it was better for Israel to serve as the pipeline to ensure the funds don’t end up in the hands of terrorists.
“Now that we are supervising, we know it’s going to humanitarian causes,” the source said quoting Netanyahu.
“Whoever is against a Palestinian state should be with” transferring the funds to Gaza because maintaining a separation between the PA in the West Bank and Hamas in Gaza helps prevent the establishment of a Palestinian state, Netanyahu further noted.
Netanyahu’s comments followed Qatar’s announcement on Monday of sending the fourth batch of its funds to poor families in Gaza.
A total of 55,000 families in the Strip receive $100 payment each.
The aid is part of a $150 million Qatari grant, some of which was used in the past to pay salaries to Hamas employees before the dispute.
Head of Qatar's National Committee for the Reconstruction of Gaza Strip Mohammad al-Amadi arrived in the strip on Sunday to oversee the distribution of $5.5 million to Gaza's poorest families.
He arrived one day before UN Special Coordinator for the Middle East Peace Process Nickolay Mladenov.
They both oversee specific aspects of stabilizing calm in the Gaza Strip. While Egypt has been working on establishing a ceasefire in Gaza for weeks now.
An Egyptian security delegation visited Gaza and Israel several times last week in order to establish a new agreement between the two sides.
Hamas demanded Qatari funds be transferred as salaries as well as expanding the fishing area and allowing entry of certain prohibited items to Gaza.