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Deal Between UN and Qatar Provides Aid to Gazans, But Reconstruction is Elusive [1]

['Adam Rasgon', 'More About Adam Rasgon']

Date: 2021-08-19

JERUSALEM — Millions in aid will be funneled to impoverished families in the blockaded Gaza Strip under a deal reached by the United Nations and Qatar on Thursday, marking a significant advance in efforts to firm up a cease-fire between Israel and the militant group Hamas.

But the agreement does not address the broader issue of reconstructing Gaza, which suffered immense destruction in the 11-day war between Israel and Hamas in May, according to a diplomat briefed on the deal.

As part of Thursday’s deal, 100,000 families in Gaza will each receive $100 monthly starting in September, said Mohammed al-Emadi, Qatar’s representative to Gaza. The stipends will be financed by the Qatari government and distributed by the U.N. World Food Program, he said. It was unclear how long the arrangement will remain in effect.

In contrast to the delivery of past Qatari payments to Gazans, the money will be transferred through the banking system, Israel’s defense minister, Benny Gantz, said in a statement. Before the war in May, Israel permitted Qatari officials to carry cash into Gaza for families on a near-monthly basis — a process many Israelis criticized as support for Hamas.

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[1] Url: https://www.nytimes.com/2021/08/19/world/middleeast/qatar-united-nations.html

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