Gaza families and Hamas receive Qatari financial aid

Palestinians receive their financial aid, 100 USD per needy family offered by Qatar, at a post office in Gaza City on June 27, 2020. AFP

Palestinians in the Gaza Strip started receiving Qatari aid payments of $100 on Saturday morning, an AFP correspondent said, part of millions in support from the Gulf emirate.

The Hamas communications ministry said on Friday that it had received $30 million in aid from Qatar, a rare Middle East ally.

A third of the amount would be distributed to 100,000 needy families, it added.

Hundreds of Palestinians queued up at post offices in the impoverished Gaza Strip on Saturday morning to receive the $100 allocated per family, an AFP correspondent said.

As part of an informal truce deal between Hamas and Israel in November 2018, Israel allows millions of dollars in Qatari aid to enter the strip.

Gaza has been under a crippling Israeli blockade since 2007, when Islamist movement Hamas took control of the Palestinian enclave.

Israel and Hamas have fought three wars since 2008.

Around 80 per cent of Palestinians in Gaza are reliant on international aid, according to the United Nations.