Qatar’s helping hand to the people of Gaza Strip, home to nearly two million people who have been under Israeli blockade, is part of its policy to alleviate the sufferings of a population living in the occupied Palestinian territory.
The directives of the Emir H H Sheikh Tamim bin Hamd Al Thani that an urgent assistance worth QR33m ($9m) be provided for medicines, medical supplies, foodstuffs and fuel for the operation of hospital generators to assist the people of Gaza is the new step in this process in response to the appeal by the United Nations.
Over the past five years, Qatar has already pledged $1.4bn worth of reconstruction support in Gaza Strip which has been going to hospitals, upgrading roads to housing projects.
Since a 50-day war in 2014 on Gaza by the Zionist nation that left more than 2,200 people dead including 490 Palestinian children, displacing up to half a million people and destroying 20,000 homes, Qatar has been in the forefront in the internationally backed reconstruction efforts.
The head of Qatari Committee for Reconstruction of the Gaza, Ambassador Mohammed bin Ismail Al Emadi said he hopes that Qatar’s support for Gaza will encourage other nations to join the effort. Under Al Emadi’s supervision, Qatar has poured hundreds of millions of dollars into large-scale projects, including a new highway, state-of-the-art rehabilitation hospital and high-rise housing.
Qatar’s National Day was celebrated in Gaza with the announcement that the residents of Hamad City in the southern Gaza Strip, established by Qatar in 2012 with an area of roughly 30 acres and 3,000 housing units, would be exempted from financial installments on apartments. In addition, the Qatari representative offered $3m for health care, education and humanitarian programmes in the Strip.
The UN office said $6.5m is required to provide 7.7 million liters of emergency fuel in Gaza in 2018. This is the bare minimum needed to stave off a collapse of services. The Israel-blockaded region has struggled with severe electricity shortages since 2006. The crisis has forced several hospitals to suspend services to patients in recent days.
Although the Gaza Strip requires an estimated 600 megawatts of electricity, it currently receives only 120 megawatts from Israel and another 32 megawatts from Egypt. Gaza’s sole functioning power plant is only able to generate 60 megawatts of electricity, according to the Palestinian Energy Authority.
An electricity crisis that caused protests and unrest in the Gaza Strip last year was eased after Qatar donated $12m to buy fuel for the Palestinian enclave’s lone power plant.
Qatar’s prompt and generous contribution to avert the humanitarian catastrophe in the Gaza Strip has been lauded by the United Nations Secretary-General. But the root cause of the tragedy in Gaza is Israel’s continued occupation and blockade. The international community must address these blatant violations before more disasters take place.
