Israel to Allow Qatari Funds into Gaza

Israeli soldiers playing chess on the border with Gaza (AP)
Israeli soldiers playing chess on the border with Gaza (AP)
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Israel to Allow Qatari Funds into Gaza

Israeli soldiers playing chess on the border with Gaza (AP)
Israeli soldiers playing chess on the border with Gaza (AP)

Israel will work to facilitate the arrival of the Qatari grant to the Gaza Strip, announced Israeli Defense Minister Benny Gantz.

Gantz said Israel would facilitate humanitarian aid funded by Qatar and others to the people of Gaza as long as it will “reach the right places.”

Earlier, an Israeli official announced that significant progress had been made in finding a mechanism to deliver the Qatari grant to needy families in Gaza through the United Nations.

Sources noted that Israel and the UN reached an agreement on delivering $100 to needy families, given that it does not include Hamas employees.

The Israeli official confirmed that the money would arrive soon, but there is no agreement on the salaries of government employees.

Qatar agreed to provide the Strip with $30 million a month, $100 to be paid to about 100,000 families, in addition to the salaries of government employees.

The grant contributed to putting an end to the marches on the Strip border before Israel stopped transferring these funds since the 11-day war last May.

Tel Aviv stipulated that the funds should be transferred through the Palestinian Authority or the United Nations and not through bags as was the case.

This week, the Palestinian factions gradually escalated by starting marches on the borders, noting that they will resume the launching of incendiary balloons and the activation of night confusion units.

The situation became more complicated when the factions fired rockets from the Gaza Strip after Israel killed four Palestinians in Jenin.

Hamas asserted, via Egypt, that it did not launch the rocket, but the Israeli Prime Minister Bennett insisted that Hamas would be responsible in the end.

“We will act at the time, place, and in conditions that suit us, and not anyone else,” Bennett said.

“As far as we’re concerned, Hamas is to blame, not rebels or anyone else but Hamas,” he asserted

“Our mission is to bring long-term security to the residents of the South and the Gaza envelope,” the prime minister stated.



Large Gaza Food Convoy Violently Looted, UNRWA Says

A truck carries humanitarian aid destined for the Gaza Strip, amid the ongoing conflict in Gaza between Israel and Hamas, at the Kerem Shalom crossing in southern Israel, November 11, 2024. REUTERS/Amir Cohen/File Photo
A truck carries humanitarian aid destined for the Gaza Strip, amid the ongoing conflict in Gaza between Israel and Hamas, at the Kerem Shalom crossing in southern Israel, November 11, 2024. REUTERS/Amir Cohen/File Photo
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Large Gaza Food Convoy Violently Looted, UNRWA Says

A truck carries humanitarian aid destined for the Gaza Strip, amid the ongoing conflict in Gaza between Israel and Hamas, at the Kerem Shalom crossing in southern Israel, November 11, 2024. REUTERS/Amir Cohen/File Photo
A truck carries humanitarian aid destined for the Gaza Strip, amid the ongoing conflict in Gaza between Israel and Hamas, at the Kerem Shalom crossing in southern Israel, November 11, 2024. REUTERS/Amir Cohen/File Photo

A convoy of 109 trucks was violently looted on Nov. 16 after entering Gaza, resulting in the loss of 98 trucks in what aid workers say is one of the worst such incidents in the more than 13-month-old war, an UNRWA aid official told Reuters on Monday.

The convoy carrying food provided by UN agencies UNRWA and the World Food Program was instructed by Israel to depart at short notice via an unfamiliar route from Kerem Shalom crossing, Louise Wateridge, UNRWA Senior Emergency Officer told Reuters.

"This incident highlights the severity of access challenges of bringing aid into southern and central Gaza," she said, adding that injuries occurred in the incident.

"⁠The urgency of the crisis cannot be overstated; without immediate intervention, severe food shortages are set to worsen, further endangering the lives of over two million people who depend on humanitarian aid to survive," she said.

WFP and COGAT, the Israeli military agency that deals with Palestinian civilian affairs, did not immediately respond to a request for comment. The agency says it does all it can to ensure that enough aid enters the coastal enclave, and that Israel does not prevent the entry of humanitarian aid.

A UN aid official said on Friday that Gaza aid access had reached a low point, with deliveries to parts of the besieged north of the enclave all but impossible.