Palestinian PM Says Ready to Distribute Qatari Grant Funds in Gaza

A worker carries out reconstruction in Gaza. (AP)
A worker carries out reconstruction in Gaza. (AP)
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Palestinian PM Says Ready to Distribute Qatari Grant Funds in Gaza

A worker carries out reconstruction in Gaza. (AP)
A worker carries out reconstruction in Gaza. (AP)

Palestinian Prime Minister Mohammed Shtayyeh said his government is ready to distribute the funds of the Qatari grant to the Gaza Strip through the Ministry of Social Affairs.

During a cabinet meeting on Monday, he welcomed cooperation with Qatar to alleviate the suffering in the impoverished coastal enclave.

The PM’s proposal resolves a long-standing dispute on how to access the grant.

Israel has halted the transfer of the funds since the end of the latest round of hostilities between it and Gaza militants in May. Israel has been demanding that the funds be transferred through the Palestinian Authority and United Nations to avoid them falling in the hands of the Hamas movement.

Salama Marouf, chairman of the government's media office in Gaza, had last week announced that an agreement was reached over the grant.

Shtayyeh urged the international community and the United States, in particular, to work on ending the Israeli policies of persecution, racism, and ethnic cleansing committed against Palestinians in Jerusalem’s Sheikh Jarrah and Silwan neighborhoods.

He said the Israeli judicial system is covering up oppressive Israeli policies against the Palestinian people throughout the occupied territories.

The PM slammed such policies that represent a violation of international laws and the Universal Declaration of Human Rights.

He cited a Human Rights Watch report that accused Israeli authorities of committing crimes against humanity of apartheid against Palestinians.



Palestinians in Jenin Observe a General Strike

A Palestinian police officer attempts to disperse demonstrators during a protest against clashes between Palestinian security forces and militants in the northern occupied West Bank city of Jenin on December 21, 2024. (Photo by Jaafar ASHTIYEH / AFP)
A Palestinian police officer attempts to disperse demonstrators during a protest against clashes between Palestinian security forces and militants in the northern occupied West Bank city of Jenin on December 21, 2024. (Photo by Jaafar ASHTIYEH / AFP)
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Palestinians in Jenin Observe a General Strike

A Palestinian police officer attempts to disperse demonstrators during a protest against clashes between Palestinian security forces and militants in the northern occupied West Bank city of Jenin on December 21, 2024. (Photo by Jaafar ASHTIYEH / AFP)
A Palestinian police officer attempts to disperse demonstrators during a protest against clashes between Palestinian security forces and militants in the northern occupied West Bank city of Jenin on December 21, 2024. (Photo by Jaafar ASHTIYEH / AFP)

Palestinians in the volatile northern West Bank town of Jenin are observing a general strike called by militant groups to protest a rare crackdown by Palestinian security forces.
An Associated Press reporter in Jenin heard gunfire and explosions, apparently from clashes between militants and Palestinian security forces. It was not immediately clear if anyone was killed or wounded. There was no sign of Israeli troops in the area.
Shops were closed in the city on Monday, the day after militants killed a member of the Palestinian security forces and wounded two others.
Militant groups called for a general strike across the territory, accusing the security forces of trying to disarm them in support of Israel’s half-century occupation of the territory.
The Western-backed Palestinian Authority is internationally recognized but deeply unpopular among Palestinians, in part because it cooperates with Israel on security matters. Israel accuses the authority of incitement and of failing to act against armed groups.
The Palestinian Authority blamed Sunday’s attack on “outlaws.” It says it is committed to maintaining law and order but will not police the occupation.
The Palestinian Authority exercises limited authority in population centers in the West Bank. Israel captured the territory in the 1967 Mideast War, and the Palestinians want it to form the main part of their future state.
Israel’s current government is opposed to Palestinian statehood and says it will maintain open-ended security control over the territory. Violence has soared in the West Bank following Hamas’ Oct. 7, 2023 attack out of Gaza, which ignited the war there.