BICOM

Qatar’s special envoy to Gaza has praised the efforts of Israeli officials to improve the lives of Palestinians living in the Gaza Strip.

Speaking to Avi Issacharoff in the Times of Israel, head of the Qatari National Committee for the Reconstruction of Gaza, Muhammad al-Amadi, called his relationship with Israeli officials “excellent” and said that in some cases it is Palestinian officials who are holding up attempts to improve the lives of Gazans.

The interview was the first time an official Qatari representative has spoken with Israeli press.

Al-Amadi has been working with Israeli and Palestinian officials to alleviate the current power shortage in Gaza. He said: “We proposed the establishment of a technical committee, free of politicians, that would be responsible for handling Gaza’s energy problem. The committee would be composed of experts from Gaza, [Qatar], the UN, and UNRWA; and they would manage Gaza’s energy affairs.”

Al-Amadi said he is “in contact with senior Israeli officials and agencies and the relationship is great”. He continued: “The head of the Coordinator of Government Activities in the Territories, [Maj. Gen. Yoav Mordechai], is of course one of them, but there are others.”

He noted that Israeli officials who have agreed to the proposed technical committee are helping, but referring to the Palestinian Authority (PA), stressed that “there are other parties that are not”.

One long-standing obstacle is the payment for fuel, which al-Amadi noted that Hamas and the PA have been engaged in a longstanding dispute over.

Qatar has promised £80m of investment to the Gaza Strip, primarily for reconstruction projects. Several thousand housing units were recently completed in the town of Khan Yunis using Qatari aid.

Qatari officials have also tried to play a role mediating a possible prisoner exchange between Israel and Hamas.