Qatar has pledged $60 million to help construct a natural gas pipeline running from Israel into the Gaza Strip, the Qatari government said Thursday. The project aims to ease Gaza's long-term energy crisis.
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Natural gas currently flowing through a pipeline in Israel from the eastern Mediterranean will be transported via a new extension into Gaza, the Qatari Foreign Ministry announced on its website.
The eastern Mediterranean has become one of the world's major offshore drilling zones, with lucrative deepwater gas fields recently discovered in Israel's territorial waters.
The European Union also has pledged over $24 million to fund the pipeline on the Gaza side of the border, the ministry added.
The statement did not give a date for the pipeline's completion, but the official confirmation of funding after weeks of anticipation signals a diplomatic breakthrough between the many parties to the project: Europeans, Israelis, Palestinians and Qataris.
Palestinian Authority Prime Minister Mohammad Shtayyeh praised Qatari and European support, saying the project would "solve the electricity problem absolutely," according to the Qatari statement.
Qatar has become a major donor to the Palestinians, providing $20 million to Gaza each month since 2018. The money has helped Hamas cover the salaries of its civil servants and provided monthly $100 million stipends to scores of impoverished families. Qatar has provided additional funds for development hospitals like roads and hospitals.
Qatari aid, delivered with Israeli consent, has provided some relief to the local economy and is seen as a factor in preventing simmering tensions between Israel and Hamas from boiling over into renewed conflict.
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