GAZA CITY, Gaza Strip — Ambassador Mohammed al-Emadi, head of the Qatar National Committee for the Reconstruction of Gaza, announced in a June 19 statement that the committee would disburse cash aid to only 60,000 poor families in the Gaza Strip as opposed to the original 108,000 families.

Emadi also said the committee decided, in collaboration with ministries and competent authorities, to allocate $6 million to help poor families and $4 million to implement other sustainable projects supervised by the committee. He gave no justification for the committee’s decision. 

Emadi transferred $25 million in cash to Gaza June 16 through the Erez crossing. Out of this amount, $10 million was supposed to be distributed as a $100 cash grant to over 108,000 poor families in the Gaza Strip. Another $10 million was to be earmarked for the purchase of fuel to operate Gaza’s power plant and $5 million to be allocated to the UN Relief and Works Agency’s cash-for-work program.

The announcement that the number of beneficiaries would be reduced to 60,000 has left thousands of Palestinians in Gaza disappointed. Furthermore, the disbursement was set for June 17 but was postponed to June 20.