Qatar: We will spare no effort in continuing to support the struggle and perseverance of the Palestinian people

The Emir of Qatar Sheikh Tamim Bin Hamad Al-Thani stressed that his country “will spare no effort in continuing to support the struggle and perseverance of the Palestinian people in order for them to restore their legitimate national rights”.

Al-Thani made the statement yesterday evening when he received phone calls from Khaled Meshaal, head of the Islamic Resistance Movement Hamas’ Political Bureau, and Ismail Haniyeh, deputy head of the movement’s political bureau, according to Qatar News Agency (QNA).

According to QNA, during their phone calls, both Meshaal and Haniyeh expressed their gratitude and appreciation for the support provided by Qatar during the International Donor’s Conference for the reconstruction of Gaza held in Cairo.

They also praised the positions of Qatar’s Emir, government, and people, as well as their continuous efforts to support the just cause of the Palestinian people.

Sheikh Tamim said: “The State of Qatar will not spare any effort in continuing to support the struggle and perseverance of the Palestinian people in order to restore their legitimate national rights. Such rights include establishing an independent state on their land with Jerusalem as its capital, based on the two-state solution in order to reach comprehensive, fair, and permanent peace in the region.”

During the conference held in Cairo yesterday evening, Qatar announced its intention to donate $1 billion to contribute to the reconstruction of the Gaza Strip.

In his phone call to the Qatari Emir, Haniyeh said that “the Qatari donation is nothing new for Qatar, which has always stood behind the Palestinian people,” according to a statement issued by Haniyeh’s office, which the Anadolu Agency obtained a copy of.

According to this statement, Al-Thani expressed his country’s keenness to “heal the wounds of the Palestinian people, support them, and help the victims of the latest Israeli war”.

Qatar is one of the most prominent regional supporters of Hamas, which ruled Gaza from June 2007 until June 2014. This has made Doha a target of accusations of supporting terrorism, especially by Israel, which considers Hamas a “terrorist organisation”.

In general, the participants of the International Conference for Gaza contributed $5.4 billion. Half of this amount will go to reconstructing what was destroyed by Israel in its latest war on the Gaza Strip.

The remainder has not been allocated, but it seems that it will be presented as support for the Palestinian Authority, particularly for economic matters.

The conference was attended by delegates from 50 countries, including 30 foreign ministers and regional and international institutions, according to the Egyptian foreign ministry.

The Palestinian Authority had announced its desire to obtain $4 billion from the conference in the form of contributions to reconstruct the Gaza Strip, which was attacked by Israel in July. The Israeli war lasted 51 days and resulted in great material damage, in addition to the death of over 2,000 Palestinians, the majority of which were civilians. Meanwhile, 72 Israelis were killed in the war, 68 of which were soldiers, according to official statements made by both sides.

Since Hamas won the Palestinian legislative elections in January 2006, Israel has imposed a ground and naval siege on Gaza, which was tightened after the movement took control of the Gaza Strip in June 2007. The siege continued despite Hamas surrendering its governance of Gaza to the Palestinian national unity government in June.