Hamas leaders in the Gaza Strip reached an agreement with Qatar to resume subsidizing public workers’ salaries by sending fuel, a Hamas official told the AP on Tuesday.
Qatar was donating to the salaries of an estimated 50,000 government workers in Gaza until Hamas and Palestinian Islamic Jihad started launching rockets towards Israeli civilian populations centers, which led to an 11-day conflict with Israel in May.
The new deal reached with Qatar and Egypt allows the Gulf state to send fuel to Gaza via Egypt. Hamas can then resell the fuel to cover its expenses, said the unnamed official.
According to the report, even with the Qatari money, the public workers still only receive around 55 percent of their salaries.
The Qatari aid is part of a temporary ceasefire deal brokered by Egypt.
