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Third Qatari cash donation for impoverished Gaza civil servants will be made this week after it was held back by Israel in punishment for clashes at the border, a Qatari diplomat said Sunday.
Qatar in November began a six-month, $150 million program to fund civil servant wages and shipments of fuel for power generation in Gaza, offering a measure of reprieve to the blockaded enclave under the control of Palestinian group Hamas.
Qatar hopes the aid will ease conditions and restore stability, part of efforts to bolster its international standing amid a diplomatic dispute with Saudi Arabia and other Gulf neighbours.
Speaking from his office in Doha, Mohammed Al-Emadi, head of Qatar's Gaza Strip Reconstruction Committee, said the latest $15 million wage payment was initially withheld by Israel but would now arrive on Wednesday.
"Due to the violence on the border, the Israeli government postponed it. The agreement is subject to there not being too much violence, so last Friday they (Israel) approved to do the third tranche," Emadi told Reuters.
Gaza's health ministry has said more than 220 Palestinians have been killed by Israeli troops since March at border protests demanding an end to an Israeli-led blockade of the coastal strip.
Qatar in November began a six-month, $150 million program to fund civil servant wages and shipments of fuel for power generation in Gaza, offering a measure of reprieve to the blockaded enclave under the control of Palestinian group Hamas.
Qatar hopes the aid will ease conditions and restore stability, part of efforts to bolster its international standing amid a diplomatic dispute with Saudi Arabia and other Gulf neighbours.
Speaking from his office in Doha, Mohammed Al-Emadi, head of Qatar's Gaza Strip Reconstruction Committee, said the latest $15 million wage payment was initially withheld by Israel but would now arrive on Wednesday.
"Due to the violence on the border, the Israeli government postponed it. The agreement is subject to there not being too much violence, so last Friday they (Israel) approved to do the third tranche," Emadi told Reuters.
Gaza's health ministry has said more than 220 Palestinians have been killed by Israeli troops since March at border protests demanding an end to an Israeli-led blockade of the coastal strip.
