Qatar will provide one thousand dollars as preliminary assistance to Palestinians whose homes were destroyed during Operation Protective Edge, said Gaza's Social Affairs undersecretary Omar al-Darbi on Saturday.

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Qatar has long been considered as source of Hamas' funds and had offered to serve as mediator during the summer conflict – Israel rejected their proposal and demanded Egypt broker the negotiations.

A senior Palestinian source in the ministry added that the committee governing the strip will supervise the aid and dispense the cash through the Social Affairs Ministry's offices across the Strip.





Palestinian children in Gaza (Photo: AP)

The ministry is currently in the process of determining the names of all the owners of the destroyed homes in order to prevent any mishandling of the Qatari funds and assure the aid reaches the innocent victims of the IDF operation.

Khaled Mashal and senior Hamas officials on private jet

The source said the agreed-upon sum was defined as "emergency assistance" to families who lost their homes, in order to help them afford rent and purchase basic necessities during this difficult time.

According to UNRWA, the UN agency responsible for Palestinian refugees, some half a million Gazans were internally displaced during the operation. According to the IDF, 10,690 homes were destroyed, 141 schools were damaged, and five hospitals were shut down.

In July, former president Shimon Peres slammed Qatar as "the world’s largest funder of terror," stating that it should not provide money that is used for rockets and tunnels meant to kill civilians, and if it wants to help, it should build, "but should not be allowed to destroy."

In 2012, due to the deteriorating security situation in Damascus caused by the Syrian civil war, Hamas political chief Khaled Mashal relocated his headquarters "temporarily" to Qatar.