While Qatar has agreed to pay the salaries of Palestinian government employees recruited during Hamas’ rule of the Gaza Strip, Palestinian banks have refused to receive the grants, Qatari Ambassador and Head of the Qatari Committee for the Reconstruction of the Gaza Strip Mohamed Al-Emadi said on Tuesday.
Anadolu reported Al-Emadi reporting to journalists in Gaza that the Qatari Emir had announced a $31m grant assist Hamas to pay the salaries of civil sector employees in Gaza.
Al-Emedi said: “This is to lessen the hardships of the difficult life in the Gaza Strip”
#MiddleEast: 'Qatar has transferred $31M to the Gaza Strip to pay the salaries of some 23,000 #Hamas employees' https://t.co/25HeEZfrwh
— Ali Kheradpir (@AliKheradpir) August 3, 2016
The banks refused to receive the grant which Al-Emadi said was deposited in the account of the Qatari Committee for the Reconstruction of the Gaza Strip.
He noted that the committee had received a list with the names of the Gaza employees and is willing to pay the salaries in the same way as the previous grant was paid which is through government post offices.
Al-Emadi also said that the Qatari committee had invited Palestinian Authority Prime Minister, Rami Hamdallah, to visit Gaza to participate in the inauguration of the second phase of Sheikh Hamad Housing City in the south of the Gaza Strip.
#Qatari Ambassador Arrives in #Gaza to Assess Qatar-Based Projects https://t.co/IymExzAmEQ via @PalestineChron pic.twitter.com/Yb9GE47ApZ
— Palestine Chronicle (@PalestineChron) July 28, 2016
In addition, he said that contracts for new projects worth $40m would be signed with contractors from Gaza during his current visit.
He noted that every step regarding the work of the committee in Gaza is carried out with the “full coordination” of the PA.
(MEMO, PC)
