Israel has decided to halt the transfer of all Qatari-donated funds to the Gaza Strip, in response to a rocket that was fired on Sunday night from the Hamas-run enclave toward the southern communities of the Jewish state – among other recent terror related activities that emanated from the Palestinian territory. Just a few hours before a plane carrying 15 million dollars was scheduled to depart from Doha towards the Islamist Hamas, Jerusalem informed Qatar that it was suspending the continued transfer of funds to the Gaza Strip until further notice. It is important to note that the Israeli decision was made after a second of such installments of Qatari-donated funds had been delivered to Gaza in December 2018. The funds, which were supposed to be delivered to Gaza in six installments of 15 million U.S. dollars each, are meant to pay the salaries of Hamas’s 30,000 civil servants in Gaza and provide aid to some 50,000 people in need of humanitarian assistance. The Qataris have also allocated an additional 10 million U.S. dollars every month to purchase diesel to power the turbines in the Gaza Strip’s power plant. According to a senior Jerusalem official who spoke to TV7 on condition of anonymity, “unless Hamas thwarts all terror activities that are directed from Gaza toward Israel, the internationally recognized terror group will find itself increasingly isolated.” The official further stressed that “Hamas and the residents of Gaza must comprehend that terror does not pay-off.” Meanwhile, Hamas issued a statement in response to the Israeli decision, accusing the Israeli government of denying the residents of Gaza their rights. The statement declared Israel responsible for the policy’s possible ramifications, including the escalation of the situation. It read, “The marches of return (to the Gazan-Israeli border fence) will continue until the siege is lifted and (the Palestinian) rights are granted.”
