Israel wants voucher system for foreign aid to Gaza
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Alaina
- . July 14, 2021
- . Update: July 14, 2021 8:46 pm
Israel is considering a voucher system for foreign aid to be disbursed to Gaza. This intention comes into the picture in order to safeguard money against donations being diverted to bolster the Palestinian enclave’s Hamas rulers and their arsenal.
It was announced that several humanitarian agencies put the latest reconstruction costs for the impoverished Gaza Strip at $500 million following 11 days of cross-border fighting in May. Adding to this even Qatar bankrolled more than $1 billion worth of construction and other projects in Gaza. This amount came in the manner of cash especially during the war in 2014. The payments were continuously monitored and approved by Israel. Amidst all this Doha pledged another $500 million in late May.
Internal Security Minister Omer Barlev stated that the new Prime Minister of Israel Naftali Bennett wants a shift in policy. He added that the Qatari money for Gaza will not go in as suitcases full of dollars which end up with Hamas, where Hamas in essence takes for itself and its officials a significant part of it.Although, Bennett has envisioned a system where what will go in, in essence, would be food vouchers, or vouchers for humanitarian aid, and not cash that can be taken and used for developing weaponry to be wielded against the State of Israel.
The EU, the United States and some other countries have designated Hamas as a terrorist organization. An official from the Palestinian organization says that nothing is final yet. Should the mechanism be like this, there will be no doubt that Israel would help in the improvement of the humanitarian situation in the Gaza Strip.
