Funding Palestinian Civil Servants Salary, Qatar Sends Up To 10 Million US Dollars Of Fuel From Egypt Every Month

Illustration of a fuel truck being allowed into the Gaza Strip. (Twitter/@ShehabAgency)

JAKARTA - A Hamas official said on Monday Qatar would start sending up to $10 million of Egyptian fuel per month to Gaza, under a plan to fund the salaries of civil servants in the impoverished Palestinian territories.

Qatar announced on November 17 that it had signed an agreement with Egypt, to supply fuel and building materials to Gaza. Qatari authorities did not respond to a request for comment on Monday about the fuel used to pay Gaza's civil servants.

A source familiar with the talks said Qatar and Hamas had yet to finalize an agreement on the initiative, which would see Hamas sell fuel to Gaza's gas stations and use the proceeds to pay civil servants, including doctors and teachers.

Qatar and Hamas are still in discussions about the checks Doha needs to ensure proceeds from the fuel sales reach their intended civil servants, the sources added.

The initiative will help bypass Israeli restrictions on Qatari aid to the enclave imposed before the war between Israel and Hamas in May.

Israel used to allow Gulf states to send millions of dollars into Gaza via Israeli border crossings, to support the cash-strapped Hamas government. But Israeli authorities halted such Qatari aid in May, demanding more scrutiny of how the money was used.

"According to the agreement, Qatar will pay the equivalent of its monthly assistance to Gaza's civil servants, which is between 7 and 10 million US dollars, in the form of fuel," said Salama Marouf, director of Gaza's state media office.

The fuel will come through the (Egypt) border, and then it will be sold in the market. The proceeds will then go into the treasury of the Gaza ministry of finance, which will later be paid to employees."

Marouf said the cash raised from selling the fuel would help pay for some 40.000 civil servants in Gaza, home to 2 million Palestinians.

Separately, spokesman for Israeli Prime Minister Naftali Bennett, Defense Minister Benny Gantz, and the defense ministry declined to comment.

The World Bank says Israel's restrictions have contributed to soaring poverty in Gaza. Qatar, which has pumped more than $1 billion into Gaza since 2014, says its aid is meant to strengthen stability along the border with Israel