Palestinian banks refuse Qatari grant for Gaza employees

Palestinian banks have refused to receive the Qatari grant for Palestinian government employees recruited during Hamas’ rule of the Gaza Strip, Qatari Ambassador and Head of the Qatari Committee for the Reconstruction of the Gaza Strip Mohamed Al-Emadi said on Tuesday.

Anadolu reported Al-Emadi telling journalists in Gaza that the Qatari Emir ordered a $31m grant to pay the salaries of the civil sector employees in Gaza.

“This is to lessen the hardships of the difficult life in the Gaza Strip,” he said.

As the Palestinian banks refused to receive the grant, Al-Emadi said that the grant was deposited in the account of the Qatari Committee for the Reconstruction of the Gaza Strip.

He noted that the committee had received a list with the names of the Gaza employees and is willing to pay the salaries in the same way as the previous grant was paid which is through government post offices.

Al-Emadi also said that the Qatari committee had invited Palestinian Authority Prime Minister Rami Hamdallah to visit Gaza in order to take part in the inauguration of the second phase of Sheikh Hamas Housing City in the south of the Gaza Strip.

In addition, he said that contracts for new projects worth $40m would be signed with contractors from Gaza during his current visit.

He noted that every single step regarding the work of the committee in Gaza is carried out with the “full coordination” of the PA.