Delivering aid to Gaza, Qatari envoy says both Israel and Hamas want calm

A Qatari envoy said Monday that both Israel and Gaza militants want to contain cross-border violence that has flared in recent days, as he detailed a new emergency fund to aid the Hamas-run territory.

“We confirm through our relationship with the two sides that they are not interested in escalation or engaging in a confrontation that could ignite the entire region,” the Qatari envoy, Mohammed al-Emadi, tells reporters in Gaza City.

Al-Emadi, whose country maintains contacts with the Hamas terror group and has hosted its leaders, coordinates Qatar’s relief and reconstruction projects in Gaza. At the press conference, al-Emadi announces details of a $9 million emergency fund for addressing fuel and medicine shortages in the Strip.

The Qatari grant includes $2 million in medical supplies and $500,000 for fuel to power backup generators in Gaza’s public health centers, enough to keep them running for a month.

Trucks loaded with the supplies and decorated with Qatari flags and posters of the oil-rich sheikhdom’s rulers could be seen outside Gaza City’s main Shifa hospital this afternoon, where al-Emadi and UN officials spoke.

— with AP