Qatari cash won’t be distributed yet amid disagreements with Hamas — report

A Qatari grant won’t be distributed to Gaza’s residents amid disagreements between Qatar’s envoy and the Hamas leadership in the Strip, reports the Ynet news site.

Qatari envoy Mohammed al-Emadi is in the Gaza Strip, where he arrived late Tuesday night bringing $30 million in cash, seeking to ease the Israel-Hamas tensions that have led to daily arson balloon and rocket attacks on Israel and IDF reprisal strikes. The money is earmarked to help the territory of two million people, half of whom live under the poverty line.

Al-Emadi met with Hamas officials later Tuesday night, but the negotiations have not yielded an agreement, reports Ynet, and will continue in the coming days. The funds won’t be dispersed until a deal is made.

According to the report, Hamas has laid out new demands from Israel to end the violence, which will be conveyed by Al-Emadi to the Jewish state. The demands include the entry of ventilators and coronavirus tests into the Strip, amid the first signs of community spread of the virus in the densely populated enclave.