Qatar, disregarding the disapproval of the Palestinian Authority (PA), says it has no plans to stop supplying financial grants to the Gaza Strip.

“[Qatar] will continue to support the Gaza Strip,” Qatari Foreign Minister Sheikh Mohammed bin Abdulrahman Al Thani said Feb. 17 in his speech at the Munich Security Conference. Though Hamas controls Gaza, Thani said his country does not finance the group, which Israel and a number of other countries label as a terrorist organization, but rather are helping the territory's struggling population. “We are trying to put an end to the humanitarian crisis in Gaza in clear ways and in front of everyone's eyes,” he said.

Meanwhile, a member of the Palestinian Legislative Council is disputing the amount of aid that the Israeli newspaper Haaretz reports that Gaza has received from Qatar, saying the number is too high.

Haaretz columnist Yaniv Kubovich reported Feb. 10 that Qatar transferred more than $1.1 billion between 2012 and 2018 to the Gaza Strip, with Israel's approval. The newspaper said that about 44% of the transfers were invested in infrastructure, 40% in education and health care, and the rest was pledged to support Hamas and the United Nations Relief and Works Agency for Palestine Refugees (UNRWA). Haaretz cited "figures compiled by an international source and presented to the [Israeli] political-security cabinet last month."