Palestinian press reported yesterday that the UN has agreed for a new mechanism to be put in place, for transferring Qatari assistance money to needy families in Gaza. In recent years, Qatari envoys arrived to Israel every six months, continuing from there to the Strip with suitcases full of cash. Once in place, the money was handed over to a representative of the needy families, to be distributed to them at post offices. Reportedly, the new mechanism would see the assistance money transferred to the Strip through West Bank Palestinian banks, under UN supervision. This new mechanism would guarantee better control of the money. It will address only charity money, not salaries of Gaza Strip civil servants. This solution was apparently pushed forward by UN special envoy to the region Tor Wensland. The report also claimed neither Israel not Hamas raised objection to it.

Lebanese newspaper Al-Akhbar published this morning, that in talks with international and Qatari officials, Hamas had agreed to consider a mechanism by which Qatari money would be distributed through Palestinian banks and under the supervision of the UN. Yesterday, unnamed official Israeli sources told Israel’s army radio that reports on such a new mechanism were not exact. Still, if any such mechanism is indeed established, it should not only help battling the dire economic crisis in the Strip, but also lay the ground for advancing a deal between Israel and the Hamas.

In past years, new Prime Minister Naftali Bennett and new Finance Minister Avigdor Liberman had repeatedly voiced criticism over the cash suitcases procedure, blaming then Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu of financing Hamas terror. This was actually the background to Liberman’s resignation in 2018 from his position of defense minister in the Netanyahu government. Israel’s new government has been insisting for a new mechanism be established, that would see donations to Gaza transferred through a UN fund. Such a fund would finance directly development projects in the Strip, bypassing Hamas involvement and preventing from the money being exploited for digging attack tunnels or manufacturing weapons.

While ready to negotiate, developments on the border over the past two weeks reflect the military strategy adopted by Israel’s new government, against any terror acts from the Gaza Strip. The Israeli Air Force attacked July 3 targets in Gaza, retaliating over incendiary balloons launched from the Strip throughout the weekend. Targets included a Hamas rocket launching pad and a weapons manufacturing facility. Already on July 1, IDF jets struck another Hamas weapons manufacturing facility in Gaza in response to incendiary balloons that were launched earlier that day.