Qatari Dole in Gaza Disappoints Thousands

The big cash handout in Gaza has turned out to be considerably less than had been expected, at least for some of the people of the Hamas-run enclave.

A Qatari envoy who brought upwards of $10 million for poor families into the area on Sunday initially said the $100 bills would be distributed among 100,000 recipients. But on Wednesday, a spokesman said that only 60,000 families would receive the grants.

The rest of the money, about $4 million, will instead be used for “executing other sustainable projects which will be announced in the future.”

The envoy, Mohammed al-Emadi Emadi, said that the last-minute reallocation, the result of consultations with “the ministries and relevant parties”, and is a part of an effort “to achieve the maximum benefit from the Qatari grant.”

The Gaza Communications Ministry posted a link on its website where Palestinian families can find out whether they were selected to receive the money. It did not say how selection was determined.

A spokesman for the Gaza Reconstruction Committee did not respond to phone queries.