Qatar’s Minister of International Cooperation Mariam bint Ali al-Misnad has announced the initiation of debris removal operations in the Gaza Strip. “As part of assistance to Gaza, the State of Qatar has commenced debris removal operations and opening of primary routes,” she declared on Tuesday.
The objective, Al-Misnad stated, is “to restore hope and return life to its normal course. We take pride in belonging to a nation that makes humanity an obligation.”
In a video released in Qatar, multiple pieces of heavy construction equipment, including bulldozers, can be seen already engaged in debris removal.
“We received support from the Qatari Committee for opening roads and streets,” said Gaza City Mayor Yahya al-Sarraj, who maintains ties with Hamas. “These operations will allow residents to access their homes and medical facilities.”
Nevertheless, concern exists that the heavy mechanical equipment will not merely serve debris removal and road construction, but will assist Hamas in rehabilitating its terror infrastructure.
In this context, Hamas’s request for “specialized equipment” merits attention. According to the terrorist organization, all bodies it can reach have been transferred to Israel, despite conflicting information on the Israeli side. For the remaining bodies, it claims, there is a need for “special engineering equipment.”
Against this backdrop, Ariel Admoni, a Qatar expert at the Jerusalem Institute for Strategy and Security, told Israel Hayom, “The special engineering equipment will be introduced by mediator Qatar, which is already operational with heavy equipment in the Strip (under the pretense of implementing the Trump agreement), and will transfer it to Hamas so it can rehabilitate its terror apparatus.”
Admoni added that “teams from Qatari foundations such as the Charity Foundation and the Education Foundation have already been circulating the Gaza Strip, so from Qatar’s perspective the matter is already present.”
Originally published by Israel Hayom.
