Qatar’s Emir was warmly welcomed on a landmark tour of the Gaza Strip yesterday in the first such visit by a head of state since the Islamist Hamas movement took over in 2007.
Thousands of Qatari and Palestinian flags fluttered to mark the visit by Sheikh Hamad bin Khalifa al-Thani to inaugurate a multi-million dollar project to rebuild the impoverished Palestinian territory.
The visit is a diplomatic coup for Hamas, whose government had been boycotted by international dignitaries since the movement forcibly took over the territory in 2007, ousting forces loyal to the western-backed Palestinian Authority of President Mahmud Abbas.
Gaza’s Hamas Prime Minister Ismail Haniya hailed the visit as a “victory” over the political and economic siege on his Islamist government.
“You are officially declaring the end of the political and economic blockade imposed on the Gaza Strip by the forces of injustice and tyranny,” he told the mir.
He was referring to a political boycott as well as an Israeli blockade in place since 2006, which prevents Palestinians from bringing construction materials into the territory.
“Today we demolish the wall of the blockade through this visit, thank you Qatar!” he said.
On arrival from neighbouring Egypt’s Sinai peninsula, the Emir was warmly greeted by a large delegation of top Hamas officials led by Haniya and his Cabinet.
He then proceeded to the Islamic University in Gaza City, where he and his wife Sheikha Moza bint Nasser received honorary doctorates.
“It’s about time Palestinians turn over the page of division and open a new chapter for reconciliation and agreement, based on the agreements in Doha and Cairo, with sincere efforts from Palestinian president brother Mahmud Abbas and head of the Hamas political bureau Khaled Meshaal,” he said in reference to the laborious national reconciliation process between Fatah and Hamas.
He then left for the Rafah crossing from where he had entered in the late morning, to return to Egypt.
Last month, Doha said it would invest $254 million (€195 million) in rebuilding Gaza, which sustained major damage during a 22-day Israeli military operation that began in late December 2008.
But on opening a Qatari project to build 1,000 homes in the southern city of Khan Yunis, Haniya announced the Emir had decided to significantly increase the initial sum. “The Emir agreed to increase the Qatari investment from $254 million to $400 million,” Haniya said as Sheikh Hamad laid the foundation stone for the project named in his honour.
The increased funding would mean an extra 2,000 homes would be built in “Emir Hamad City”, and would also go towards a $25 million housing project for prisoners released last year in a landmark swap deal with Israel, he said.
Besides his wife the Emir was accompanied by Qatari Prime Minister Sheikh Hamad bin Jassem al-Thani.
It was the second time the Qatari leader had visited the tiny coastal territory – his first visit was in 1999 – and coincides with a spike in tension between Hamas and Israel.
In the morning, an Israeli soldier was severely wounded in a border bomb attack, and on Monday two militants were killed and four injured in Israeli air raids, which prompted threats of revenge from Hamas’s armed wing.
Israel has promised to hit back at anyone targeting soldiers or civilians.
Since Hamas forcibly took control of Gaza in 2007, visitors such as UN leader Ban Ki-moon and European Union foreign ministers have avoided any contact with the Islamist government.
In Ramallah, Abbas welcomed Qatar’s investment in Gaza but stressed the need to “preserve the unity of the Palestinian territories” in a terse statement on Sunday widely seen as veiled criticism of the visit.
The Palestinian Authority opposes any diplomatic acknowledgement of Gaza’s government, arguing it only serves to reinforce the yawning divide between Fatah and Hamas.
The Palestine Liberation Organisation’s Executive Committee on Monday urged Arab nations to “invest all their efforts into ending the division and not to continue the policy of having a separate entity,” saying it would only play into Israel’s hands.
Israel has also criticised the visit, saying it demonstrated Doha’s support for Hamas over the Palestinian Authority.