Money (illustration)
Money (illustration)iStock

The deputy Qatari ambassador to the Gaza Strip, Khaled al-Hardan, entered the Gaza Strip on Sunday night and delivered the $25 million grant that Qatar provides to Gaza every month.

The deputy ambassador had arrived at the Erez crossing and received the Qatari money from a special source.

The Qatari ambassador, Mohammed al-Emadi, also entered the Gaza Strip through the Erez crossing to monitor the distribution of the money, which will begin at 8:00 a.m. on Monday morning and continue until 5:00 p.m.

Meanwhile, Palestinian Arab media reported overnight Sunday that Hamas opened fire at an IDF force in the Khan Yunis area of the Gaza Strip and forced it to withdraw.

The incident has not been confirmed by another source. No injuries were reported in the incident.

Israel previously allowed two installments of $15 million in Qatari money to enter Gaza. The money was to have been distributed in six installments, but Israel postponed the third following the shooting of an IDF soldier by a terrorist from Gaza.

Last month, Emadi entered Gaza with cash which was distributed to poor families. The Qatari money was permitted to enter the Strip following a round of escalation in which Gaza terrorists fired some 700 rockets at southern Israel.

Zvi Yehezkeli, Arab affairs correspondent for Channel 13 News, said on Sunday, "The Qatari money transferred to Hamas in the Gaza Strip constitutes Iranian aid to the Palestinian terror organization, because Qatar, despite being a Sunni state in the Gulf, is on the side of Iran, not Saudi Arabia.”

"Even though Israel believes that transferring the money will help implement the understandings with Hamas, it is mistaken. Hamas is not interested in an agreement, and it is using it and the temporary calm in order to become militarily stronger. Therefore, another flare-up on the Gaza border is expected within a few weeks," Yehezkeli continued.